Important note: With confirmation of Apple, the timing and relevance of the two Apple emails I received on the same days I visited the photo book product page is purely co-incidental. Apple is not using behavioral targeting to trigger emails. I have officially entered the twilight zone because this really happened to me. Despite the sad truth that Apple wasn’t executing stellar behavioral targeting, I have decided to leave this post up as an example of what could happen in the future, as Internet marketing analytics and personalization tools evolve.
The Apple Store is a shining example of an ecommerce site that uses behavioral targeting to trigger very relevant emails.
For instance, on two occasions I have visited Apple’s website looking at its photo book creation page. The first time was in January, and I received this email the same day I visited the Apple Store (I apparently am on Apple’s mailing list though I don’t remember registering my work email with the site – perhaps Apple is that good):
The triggered email was relevant to the product I was viewing on the e-store, as well seasonally relevant (“Make last year’s memories last forever”).
I didn’t return to the site after receiving the email, until this week, when I visited that product page on the Apple Store again. Once more I received a seasonally relevant triggered email within 6 hours, reminding me that a photo book makes a great Mother’s Day gift:
Apple makes smart use of cookies and profile data (my email address) integrated with its email marketing program, showing what’s possible with targeted selling.
Have you spotted any examples like this in the wild? Or have you tried this tactic on your own store?
Subscribe by RSS
FWIW, I’ve never visited that page and still got the same e-mail from them. I think it was a broad-based campaign.
-E
Ditto what Eric said.
I received it as well without visiting. The concept is very interesting however. I’d love to see posts about how one could achieve this on their site.
Thanks!
I believe Eric is correct in this case, I also received the “Gifts for your mom. Made on your Mac.” Apple mass email that, apart from everyone having a mom and mother’s day approaching, has not relevance to me.
It seems to be a simple (but well thought out) seasonal campaign from Apple to everyone on their list.
I’m very surprised that this email went out to the entire list, as it was literally sent to me within hours after viewing the photo book page, not once but twice. *shrugs*
Anyone from Apple’s Email team in the house? Anyone? Bueller?
Yes, it was a broader campaign. Just a coincidence that you got it just after viewing that page.
“Yes, it was a broader campaign. Just a coincidence that you got it just after viewing that page.”
Out of the horse’s mouth. Thank you, Justin.
Even though this is a co-incidence, I am going to leave this post up as a “futuristic” idea, but point out the co-incidence.
Bummer.
Interesting, I was just reading ComScore’s report on the persistence of cookie’s – trying to figure out whether they are reliable enough for personalization.
ComScore reports that 31% of webusers delete the cookies monthly (or more often). This includes 1st and 3rd party cookies. Taking into account multiple users of the same computer; multiple browsers at the same computer; and the sam user at different computers, the cookie-personalization starts looking less-reliable. I’m wondering what’s your take on it?
Yes, it’s true that cookie deletion is that high (some users don’t even realize their cookies are being blown away, their security software does it for them). Because that’s a reality and there’s nothing you can do about it (cookie-wise), go ahead with personalization, just realize that A) it’s not going to apply to 100% of your visitors B) you can’t predict which visitors will delete the cookie and C) that your campaigns don’t rely 100% on personalization.
Or you could look at other ways of personalizing content, like Amazon uses “Sign in for Personalized Recommendations” and as long as the customer takes action while logged in, these actions can be tracked and content can be personalized.
I have done a lot of work with cookie-based personalization and it does work. Of the cookies that I’ve set, I typically see 25% coming back and am able to personalize the experience and have seen really great revenue gains, not to mention the overall improvement on the customer experience. I think you get a smaller portion of visitors relying on log-in based personalization and would work best with sites like Amazon or Overstock, where you see a higher percentage of people logging in to track orders. Using both methods, would obviously cover more.
Hi Linda,
I’m just wondering how you *felt* when you thought that Apple were targeting you?
Did it feel creepy – like they were stalking you? Or did you feel flattered that they noticed you?
(Or maybe somewhere in-between)
I felt stalked, to be honest! But also very curious to how it was technically achieved.
Overall I completely agree that behavioral targeting is the next wave in online marketing. Once the technology evolves a bit more, we will see even the smallest online retailers using this tactic. Just look at Amazon. They are always sending suggestions your way based on what you’ve already viewed/bought.
However, I read a funny anecdote yesterday that is a potential downfall of behavioral targeting. A man had bought a surprise anniversary gift for his wife on Amazon. Then, through retargeting emails showing up on the couples shared Google homepage, the surprise was ruined. Obviously this could be portrayed as the consumers fault. But it is food for thought.
But isn’t this kind of personalisation a good thing? Or is it scary that – as you suggest – Apple may have actually connected your recent visit with a visit several months ago when you registered your e-mail address. I’ve blogged on this here: http://bit.ly/xNj7j9 and would also welcome your thoughts!