Intrusive vs. Engaging communication: A Brief Guide

Every day you receive communication from various businesses that are vying for your time, attention and money. Some excite you, some annoy you, and some you never even see because you avoid going through such communication. Over the past couple of weeks, I took a look at my inboxes to see what communication I found intrusive, and which ones I found engaging.

Intrusive: Emails from an online booking portal that knows nothing about me

Thanks for the offer, but a) I don’t live in Kolkata and b) I already used your website to book tickets in the city I live in. So what you now have is my location, email address and an idea of what kind of events I go to. Why not use them to target me better?

Engaging: Email from e-tailer who knows I might be eyeing a new phone

These guys knew I ordered a Moto G from them close to a year ago, and that I might be looking to upgrade to a better model of the same phone. So they went ahead and sent me this message with the title “Moto G: Special offer just for you!” My thoughts? Great. I’m excited, tell me more!

Intrusive: 3 SMS on 3 consecutive days from an e-tailer whose links I never clicked

Guys, all I have to say is: Leave me alone. Yes, I shopped on your site a long time ago and yes, you have good offers at times, but if you send me SMS every single day, I’m going to automatically shut you out. End of story. PS – What’s with the fairly awful life advice? “Leave everything and SHOP SHOP SHOP” Seriously?

Engaging: Direct SMS from a food delivery service on their charity initiative

What a nice SMS to get on Indian Independence Day. Seeing a small food delivery business that I use regularly taking the initiative and contributing to a charity that feeds hungry children made me go “aww” The next thing I did was order my rather delayed breakfast and feel happy that I was contributing to an organisation whose efforts I’ve always respected. Sometimes you don’t need any information at all about a customer: just a good idea and intention – and the rest is great PR for your brand.

This article is contributed by Tara Rachel Thomas, Content Strategist at Nudgespot, a customer communication platform that helps businesses interact with their customers via emails, SMS and push notifications.