The expectations of one social buyer…

I can’t say enough good things about the stuff I bought from eBags, the initial buying process online and the flawless fulfillment, but I definitely have a little bit of an issue with how many emails they have sent me in the last month or so.  My inbox is typically “chock full” of spam and typically I just prefer to just delete/add to blocked senders list – it’s quicker.   That being said, I’m not sure why the barrage of emails from eBags stand out, but they have and I’ve actually had conversations with some of their other customers who are a little put off on this as well.  Incidentally, these folks have received the exact same emails I did.

I’m not sure why this specific vendor’s emails are off putting — Maybe it’s because of the positive perception I’ve developed of their brand, maybe it’s my VRM leanings or it could just be that as a buyer I’ve decided that mass email programs just aren’t working for me.  It’s not like they ever really have, but communications from random spammers on discount prescriptions and acai berry elixirs are on a different level, than an organization who has information on me and an established transactional relationship which they could leverage to better target messages and offers to me.

So after saving up the emails for a month since my initial transaction with eBags and thinking about this experience a little bit, I’ve opted out from future communications.   This whole experience reminded me of Chris Carfi’s Social Customer Manifesto which states in fairly clear language the expectations of a social customer.

So with a little bit of a semantic spin, I think B2C buyers need an updated set of considerations in the marketplace from marketers.

Expectations of a Social Buyer

  1. I want offers and promotions which are valuable to me
  2. I want you to understand how I buy
  3. I don’t want mass and generic communications
  4. I want to buy on my own time line, no matter what holiday is coming up
  5. I want to tell you when you’re screwing up. Conversely, I’m happy to tell you the things that you are doing well.
  6. I want to do business with brands and companies which maximizes the use of the data they have about me
  7. I want to recommend products and companies to others I know, so be patient.
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5 Comments

  • Reply Favorite Product Management Posts April 2010 | A Random Jog May 3, 2010 at 10:27 pm

    […] Relevant – The expectations of one social buyer…: I can’t say enough good things about the stuff I bought from eBags, the initial buying process […]

  • Reply jon gatrell May 4, 2010 at 9:36 am

    The expectations of one social buyer… http://bit.ly/bWQqL5

  • Reply B2B Marketers and Buyers need to interact differently « gabriel catalano | in-perfección June 2, 2010 at 11:55 am

    […] } So I spent some time the other day writing about the 7 expectations of a social buyer and the more I thought about it, it became evident that it isn’t the expectations of a social […]

  • Reply An Inbox Audit: Hubspot October 28, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    […] are using around email and marketing automation.  I’ve done similar posts before as  blog fodder previously, so I definitely see the importance of having such a dialogue and putting it out there for […]

  • Reply Hey Mobile App Vendors! 6 Things which are just annoying about your ads and outreach. March 12, 2012 at 9:23 am

    […] uses it.     Why can’t App vendors use more data driven and intelligent methods via the information their have on their buyers when sending marketing […]

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