Facebook, My Space, Twitter and all of the other new interactive sites that comprise the interactive phenomenon have fundamentally altered the way that people use the Internet.

Now, instead of the Internet being a solitary tool, people expect the Internet to be a social medium as well as an information highway and a shopping mall. Those habits and expectations are creeping into the way that customers expect to interact with online retailers as well. A recent marketing survey by Marketing Sherpa illustrates this shift very well.

Marketing Sherpa, an online research firm specializing in tracking what works in all aspects of marketing on the Internet, recently surveyed fourteen hundred people about how they prefer to interact with direct email marketing campaigns. The results spoke volumes about the exchange customers are looking for, i.e., what they want in return for accepting email in their mailbox. Interestingly, the underlying premise of the survey is the notion that customers are in fact willing to read email; they just want to receive it on their terms.

Privacy

Forty-three percent of respondents said that a guarantee from the company that their email address will not be shared with other companies would make them much more likely (twenty-three percent said somewhat more likely) to opt onto an email list. Clearly, email privacy is highly prized and online retailers will do well to establish a level of trust with their potential customers by making an ironclad guarantee to protect privacy.

Special Consideration

Potential customers definitely want preferential treatment in return for receiving your emails. Thirty-two percent of respondents said that special pricing would make them much more likely (twenty-nine percent said somewhat more likely) to opt onto an email list. Twenty-two percent of respondents said that the opportunity for a first look at products and sales would make them much more likely (twenty-eight percent said somewhat more likely) to opt onto an email list.

It makes tremendous sense to give excellent price breaks to these potential customers. They have already shown interest, have provided you access to their private mailbox and they want to know about prices and sales. You are literally moments away from making sales without the cost of pay per click advertising, banner ads or any of the other marketing techniques that make each sale more costly.

Customization

Email recipients also want to receive their email in exactly the way that makes sense for them. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said that selecting email frequency would make them much more likely (thirty percent said somewhat more likely) to opt onto an email list. Twenty-five percent of respondents said that having the option to customize the content of emails would make them much more likely (thirty-two percent said somewhat more likely) to opt onto an email list.

How can you offer customization? Provide choices such as twice weekly, weekly or bi-weekly email contact. Be sure that your email software can handle responding to different frequency requests. You will also need to adjust content. For example, if you typically send two emails a week and someone requests two emails a month, you need to be sure that time-limited sales that are coming out in month six, week one, number one is not simply rolled out many weeks later as a bi-weekly blast.

The trend toward greater interaction with potential clients is excellent news. Any opportunity to interact with your potential customer is an opportunity to learn and persuade.

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