A few days ago Dan posted an image of the new eBay Feed marketing email, I’ve also been receiving them, but Dan’s showed totally different products to those that eBay showed me. There was one question on the comment thread which was “Is it only for people who collect Daleks?“. The answer is “Yes!”
That email was specifically for people who collect Daleks, eBay sent me a totally different email and there wasn’t a Dalek in sight. That’s because whilst Dan is a big Whovian I’ve not got the slightest bit of interest in Dr Who. My feed is showing me things like bulbs I might want to plant this Autumn to come up in the garden in the Spring. Dan doesn’t have a garden so showing him bulbs would be a waste of time.
Comparison: eBay Feed and eBay Deals emails
The emails are personal and it’s the first time eBay have started to send out personalised selections of products to tempt buyers to buy. I actually received two emails that day, one was a personalised email from my eBay Feed. The other was eBay UK’s normal marketing email with a selection of eBay’s daily deals. I thought it would be instructive to view the two emails side by side:
On the left is the eBay Feed email and yes, it is only for people who collect Daleks, and on the right is the eBay UK email and I don’t know what a Pro Deck Workshop is, but I know I don’t want a Bench knit top, a Samsung Tocco or a Rapide carpet washer.
The Feed, and the email marketing for the feed is personalised.
At last, eBay are showing Dan what he wants to buy and showing me what I want to buy and it’s not the same as each other. Bravo eBay! After 17 years and you’ve cracked the holy grail of email marketing. I actually look forward to browsing your emails for the first time ever.
4 Responses
Hmmmm whilst this sounds like a good thing it may turn out to be a very blunt instrument…
I have an interest in locks and safes so I often search for “Chubb”. I fully expect to start receiving emails offering me items related to “chubb fishing” and “Chubb Rock”…
The challenge is whether the system can distinguish between one off and regular purchases.
Google adverts on websites often show products that you have looked at on retailers’ sites. Last time I bought a washing machine I kept seeing adverts for them for a few months, an item like that is purchased once and then not thought about for a few years.