MindComet

Borders’ Death Rattle In Email Form

If you aren’t already aware, Borders Books & Music are closing all of their stores for good. Call it a sign of the times or a changing of the guard with web stores replacing brick & mortar shops, it’s undeniable that Borders certainly won’t be the last corporation selling media to close up and go out of business. But this post isn’t all about them folding, its about how they’re reaching their subscribers with news of massive sales.

Look at this email:

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Now look at an example of what their emails USED to look like:

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I discussed this with Jeremy Carrus, one of MindComet’s designers, about the inconsistencies and stilted nature of the design. Here’s what we came up with…

Just cause you’re going out of business doesn’t mean you should change your brand or hide it.
Even if your doors are closing you can still go out with some dignity and use the look everyone remembered you for. I had to look closely to see who this email was from at first. It almost seemed like a knock-off, spammy email.

Why have social media links if you’re company is going under?
Why would anyone want to connect with a brand that is about to die? Is this due to the fact that social media buttons are a standard element like a forward button / link for any and all emails no matter what the subject or condition the brand is in?

Give users direction and a call to action.
If your goal is to get users into the store then put the locations link at the top of the page and not in the footer. Maybe even employ geo-location methods for users (not too hard to pull off nowadays) and dynamically insert the location closest to them.

Give users a deadline.
There is no time associated with this email so I could probably go in a few weeks and get the same deal. But if they said “Our Doors Will Be Closed On…“ it would result in some urgency, which might get me into one of their stores sooner rather than later. Even if they’re not closing they could prolong the sale and make me want to go later.

Show off the good.
Show users what you have to sell. Simply listing discounts associated with the categories of items isn’t too compelling. Sometimes folks need a visual to get excited. Images help support the sale.

Even though this is clearly a LAZY attempt at an email marketing campaign, I wouldn’t be surprised if an intern or some other lowly employee put this together. I’m sure Borders fired all of their marketing and creative assets a long time ago. It doesn’t surprise me that it looks this way… there’s really no accountability or a sense of trying with this email.

In short, the email is essentially a guy on a street corner waving a going-out-of-business sign to oncoming traffic:

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Posted by Bryan Quilty on Aug. 18, 2011

BORDERS Email Marketing

I’m not one for bookstores.  I can never find what I need without consulting a sales associate.  I’d rather not interact with someone (there’s my agoraphobia kicking in again) and just do my book shopping online.  But when you need a gift—especially last minute gifts—there’s no better option than a book.  There are books written for every conceivable subject matter; no matter how obscure or random the topic is.

So a few weekends ago, I got some grub with my folks then headed to the mall to pick up a gift for a friend.  I meandered through the obese tourists and locals alike and found myself finally stopping into Borders.  Once I found a book for my friend, I proceeded to check out.  Upon checking out, I also signed up for their rewards program and email list.  Not 10 minutes later I got a welcome letter from them telling me the benefits of their rewards program. 

Since then, I’ve received numerous emails from them, keeping me engaged with relative and timely content going over discounts and sales in my area. The only critique I would make is for them to not include so much information in their emails!  I think you’re going a little overboard when your email looks like this:

It’s just a little too cluttered for my tastes.  Don’t you think it’s a little much?

So low and behold I’ve returned to Borders THREE TIMES since my initial purchase.  Touché, Borders.  I think you’re single handedly curing my agoraphobia.

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Posted by MindComet on Jan. 13, 2009