Marketing should not be a pain, but endless emails are
So, it finally happened, I wandered into the digital crosshairs of the marketing blitz from HelloFresh, the meal kit company. The campaign says a lot about the practice of digital marketing, and I cannot help thinking it says a lot about HelloFresh as a business.
Unceasing email and ads
For weeks I received daily email and ads from HelloFresh. Initially, professional curiosity prevailed. Just how long would this campaign go on for? In short, longer than I would ever have guessed, and longer than I was willing to tolerate. One day I sent the latest arrival to Spam and the mail stopped (but not the ads, they are still showing up on a regular basis).
Brute force, digital marketing
I realize that this aggressive approach is symptomatic of HelloFresh's marketing strategy and tactics in general, but in what world does anyone think that a seemingly endless series of email is going to increase the probability of people signing up for their service?
I would like to believe it was a genuine mistake – did someone forget the frequency cap? – but I suspect it was yet another example of brute force, digital marketing. Let's bombard potential buyers into submission. Recency is important, so let's get a message in front of them every day. I know the cost of an email campaign is peanuts to the advertiser, but for the recipients it is a PITA (and let's assume that I do not mean the type of pita that might arrive along with the HelloFresh ingredients for humus).
Not spam but certainly junk
Like everyone else, I get unsolicited email all the time. The HelloFresh emails may not be malicious but they are certainly junk. The small print said at the bottom of each email claimed,
"You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive emails from HelloFresh."
No, I did not sign up. Since HelloFresh clearly believes in the power of repetition, let me repeat that. No, I did not sign up.
Pushing the behavioral button
And the messaging was so blatantly manipulative it made me cringe. Pick a behavioral button and push,
Invitation: Private Sale @ HelloFresh
Your Exclusive Access: Private Sale @ HelloFresh
You've RSVP'd! Redeem now: 15 FREE MEALS
I may look like a hot prospect but, I'm not. (No, really, I'm not.)
The funny thing is, I bet that plenty of data was churned to target people like me. I must have the right profile in terms of demographics, interest in cooking sites, phone type, or whatever. However, the fundamental truth is that no way am I ever signing up for HelloFresh, Blue Apron, or whatever. I have been making dinner in my household for decades. I do not mind making time to figure out the menu and do the shopping. Simply put, HelloFresh offers a "meal solution" for which I have no need.
No matter what HelloFresh and its marketing partners infer from my behavior, they do not have access to my real preferences, attitudes, and values. And, like so many digital marketers, they never thought to ask.
Marketing should not be a pain
Maybe whoever is responsible for the HelloFresh email campaign should take a lesson from Karl Villanueva, head of search engine advertising and display at HelloFresh. In content highlighting the capabilities of Tableau, Villanueva states,
"Marketing should not be a pain, but should be relevant."
Sadly, the HelloFresh email campaign falls down on both counts. It is a pain and, as far as I am concerned, it is not relevant. Villanueva goes on to say,
"If we know that (customers) are interested in certain ingredients, we will present them with the right recipes. If we suspect, based on their history, that they would like to buy something from us, we present the shop pages."
In other words, if we get any hint that we might make a sale, we will seize that opportunity, irrespective of what that person really wants. But then, the algorithms do not see people, they see data. Which automatically means that your marketing is going to be a pain to many.
So, here is my suggestion. Cap the emails at 7, then ask whether the potential customer is interested in your offer. If yes, pass them on to a chatbot that can answer their questions and help them sign up. If not, quit bothering them till next year. Maybe their circumstances will have changed by then.
What is the real marketing objective?
Set aside my dislike of marketing tactics represented by the HelloFresh email campaign, I am intrigued by what the campaign implies about HelloFresh as a company.
Does the lifetime value of a customer really justify the cost of acquisition incurred by delivering 15 free meals? Normal companies, the ones that have not had millions in investment funding to burn through, would have a hard time justifying that sort of sales bait, but if sign-ups are more important than profits... Hey presto! Let's try 16 free meals. (Yes. That's the latest offer.)
Aggressive acquisition needed to offset churn?
It all makes me wonder just how sustainable the HelloFresh business model really is (and I do not just mean from an environmental viewpoint).
I understand churn is a big problem for meal kit delivery services. (Actually, it is a big problem for many subscription-based businesses. How many cosmetics, T-shirts, or razors does one person need?) If I am right, in future HelloFresh will need an aggressive acquisition strategy just to hold ground, never mind grow.
So, let's hope that the company's planned investment in fulfilment infrastructure and tech pays off with more satisfied customers, because otherwise I cannot help but wonder if future growth is going to be severely constrained.
Unceasing email and ads
For weeks I received daily email and ads from HelloFresh. Initially, professional curiosity prevailed. Just how long would this campaign go on for? In short, longer than I would ever have guessed, and longer than I was willing to tolerate. One day I sent the latest arrival to Spam and the mail stopped (but not the ads, they are still showing up on a regular basis).
Brute force, digital marketing
I realize that this aggressive approach is symptomatic of HelloFresh's marketing strategy and tactics in general, but in what world does anyone think that a seemingly endless series of email is going to increase the probability of people signing up for their service?
I would like to believe it was a genuine mistake – did someone forget the frequency cap? – but I suspect it was yet another example of brute force, digital marketing. Let's bombard potential buyers into submission. Recency is important, so let's get a message in front of them every day. I know the cost of an email campaign is peanuts to the advertiser, but for the recipients it is a PITA (and let's assume that I do not mean the type of pita that might arrive along with the HelloFresh ingredients for humus).
Not spam but certainly junk
Like everyone else, I get unsolicited email all the time. The HelloFresh emails may not be malicious but they are certainly junk. The small print said at the bottom of each email claimed,
"You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive emails from HelloFresh."
No, I did not sign up. Since HelloFresh clearly believes in the power of repetition, let me repeat that. No, I did not sign up.
Pushing the behavioral button
And the messaging was so blatantly manipulative it made me cringe. Pick a behavioral button and push,
Invitation: Private Sale @ HelloFresh
Your Exclusive Access: Private Sale @ HelloFresh
You've RSVP'd! Redeem now: 15 FREE MEALS
(No. No, I did not RSVP.)
I may look like a hot prospect but, I'm not. (No, really, I'm not.)
The funny thing is, I bet that plenty of data was churned to target people like me. I must have the right profile in terms of demographics, interest in cooking sites, phone type, or whatever. However, the fundamental truth is that no way am I ever signing up for HelloFresh, Blue Apron, or whatever. I have been making dinner in my household for decades. I do not mind making time to figure out the menu and do the shopping. Simply put, HelloFresh offers a "meal solution" for which I have no need.
No matter what HelloFresh and its marketing partners infer from my behavior, they do not have access to my real preferences, attitudes, and values. And, like so many digital marketers, they never thought to ask.
Marketing should not be a pain
Maybe whoever is responsible for the HelloFresh email campaign should take a lesson from Karl Villanueva, head of search engine advertising and display at HelloFresh. In content highlighting the capabilities of Tableau, Villanueva states,
"Marketing should not be a pain, but should be relevant."
Sadly, the HelloFresh email campaign falls down on both counts. It is a pain and, as far as I am concerned, it is not relevant. Villanueva goes on to say,
"If we know that (customers) are interested in certain ingredients, we will present them with the right recipes. If we suspect, based on their history, that they would like to buy something from us, we present the shop pages."
In other words, if we get any hint that we might make a sale, we will seize that opportunity, irrespective of what that person really wants. But then, the algorithms do not see people, they see data. Which automatically means that your marketing is going to be a pain to many.
So, here is my suggestion. Cap the emails at 7, then ask whether the potential customer is interested in your offer. If yes, pass them on to a chatbot that can answer their questions and help them sign up. If not, quit bothering them till next year. Maybe their circumstances will have changed by then.
What is the real marketing objective?
Set aside my dislike of marketing tactics represented by the HelloFresh email campaign, I am intrigued by what the campaign implies about HelloFresh as a company.
Does the lifetime value of a customer really justify the cost of acquisition incurred by delivering 15 free meals? Normal companies, the ones that have not had millions in investment funding to burn through, would have a hard time justifying that sort of sales bait, but if sign-ups are more important than profits... Hey presto! Let's try 16 free meals. (Yes. That's the latest offer.)
Aggressive acquisition needed to offset churn?
It all makes me wonder just how sustainable the HelloFresh business model really is (and I do not just mean from an environmental viewpoint).
I understand churn is a big problem for meal kit delivery services. (Actually, it is a big problem for many subscription-based businesses. How many cosmetics, T-shirts, or razors does one person need?) If I am right, in future HelloFresh will need an aggressive acquisition strategy just to hold ground, never mind grow.
So, let's hope that the company's planned investment in fulfilment infrastructure and tech pays off with more satisfied customers, because otherwise I cannot help but wonder if future growth is going to be severely constrained.
What do you think? Please share your thoughts.
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