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E-mail auto-replies represent a prime marketing moment
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In an automated world, where so much is standardized and sanitized, it’s such a refreshing thing to see creativity jutting out of the most unexpected places.
Take the auto-reply process with e-mails. You know—those things that people create when they think folks can’t bear to be without a response in the next 7.3 seconds? Well, maybe 7.3 days is more like it.
Anyway, here, via the auto-reply vehicle, is a chance to demonstrate your individuality…elicit a laugh…just plain brighten someone’s day with a few well-chosen words.
What’s more, because of the auto-reply’s rapid-fire response nature, while you are sunning in Miami, hiking in the Andes or simply catching up on laundry, you are virtually guaranteed to capture more attention than usual with whatever it is that you have to say.
In this crazy world with messages zinging all around us, opportunities for slicing through the clutter don’t get much better.
But instead of seizing the moment, it seems as if just about every automated response in the world has been screened, scrubbed and sanitized by the International Council on Dreadfully Serious Messages, Which Shall Regularly Include An Inexplicable Typo or Two.
Here’s a composite of every auto-reply I’ve ever gotten:
“Thaks for your email. I’ll be out till July 10. If ths message is urgent, please call my assistant, Bobby Pickering, at 888-713-6589…”
Annoying misspellings aside, isn’t there a more fun, creative way of communicating? You don’t need to be in PR or marketing to benefit from coming across as a distinct, engaging and memorable human being.
And if you still need to note your mobile phone number, your backup e-mail address and your 4th grade teacher’s name, go ahead. Just jazz it up a little, fool us so that we won’t suspect that you were frantically dashing to catch a plane to Wichita when you set up your auto-reply.
Take the auto-reply process with e-mails. You know—those things that people create when they think folks can’t bear to be without a response in the next 7.3 seconds? Well, maybe 7.3 days is more like it.
Anyway, here, via the auto-reply vehicle, is a chance to demonstrate your individuality…elicit a laugh…just plain brighten someone’s day with a few well-chosen words.
What’s more, because of the auto-reply’s rapid-fire response nature, while you are sunning in Miami, hiking in the Andes or simply catching up on laundry, you are virtually guaranteed to capture more attention than usual with whatever it is that you have to say.
In this crazy world with messages zinging all around us, opportunities for slicing through the clutter don’t get much better.
But instead of seizing the moment, it seems as if just about every automated response in the world has been screened, scrubbed and sanitized by the International Council on Dreadfully Serious Messages, Which Shall Regularly Include An Inexplicable Typo or Two.
Here’s a composite of every auto-reply I’ve ever gotten:
“Thaks for your email. I’ll be out till July 10. If ths message is urgent, please call my assistant, Bobby Pickering, at 888-713-6589…”
Annoying misspellings aside, isn’t there a more fun, creative way of communicating? You don’t need to be in PR or marketing to benefit from coming across as a distinct, engaging and memorable human being.
And if you still need to note your mobile phone number, your backup e-mail address and your 4th grade teacher’s name, go ahead. Just jazz it up a little, fool us so that we won’t suspect that you were frantically dashing to catch a plane to Wichita when you set up your auto-reply.
Here’s an excerpt from one I created seven months ago, the last time I was away from e-mail for more than a few days (yes, I need a vacation!):
"Wow, I reply pretty quickly, huh?
Pretty impressive, especially when you consider that I'm not even at my computer!
By now, you may have surmised that this is an auto-reply. I should probably let you know when I'll be back in e-mail action (July 3rd). And you should definitely check out my Inside Edge PR blog post at [I posted a link here] about how lame most auto-reply messages are."
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For more info: Excellent auto-reply tips; A blunt, rather hilarious take on the downside of auto-replies
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