All of us have at least one friend who will consistently send us those annoying forwards. By the time the email gets to us, it includes all kinds of other picture files and attachments, not to mention the plethora of stranger’s emails that we have access to. Essentially emails like these could be a spammer’s dream. So how do we get around this when we want to get a message out but don’t want to wind up looking like spam?
Utilize a new technology called forward-to-a-friend (FTAF). When placed in an email, it allows the end-user to easily forward email to one or several e-mail addresses and attach a small note that lets the receiver know why their friend sent this to them.
For marketers, this is a much cleaner way of spreading a message and provides very valuable information. FTAF technology tracks the number of times a message is forwarded as well as the number of resulting subscribers originating from the recipient.
So, maybe you’re still asking yourself how this would be helpful. I am part of a young professionals group called Mahoning Valley Professional 20/30 Club. We send out emails to all of our members as well as those in the Regional Chamber announcing our monthly mixers.
I always try to forward them on to at least a couple of friends who are not currently involved, but that I think might enjoy attending and meeting new people. Rather than just forwarding it from my Hotmail account, I scroll down to the bottom of the message and click on the link that says “Forward email.” Using a service called Constant Contact, I am then able to forward the message to five friends and add a personal message.
On the side of the club, we pay a monthly fee but are then able to track who opens our email, how many times they look at it, whether they click on the links, and how many friends they pass it along to. With all of this information, this tool seems essential to anyone communicating with its audiences primarily through email.
