When folks talk about their trigger e-mail programs,  they’re often talking about the usual suspects: abandoned cart e-mails, thank you for your catalog requests, order confirmations and the like.  Most companies don’t send out the EBOSI, which is a shame because it’s often one of the best performing trigger e-mails you can have in your arsenal.

An EBOSI – E-Mail Based on Selected Interest – alerts the users to things they might be interested in based on their browsing patterns.

For example, here’s an e-mail I received from Amazon after looking for robots for the terrorists.   (Speaking of which, EBOSI’s work really well for non-ecommerce sites too. The example below is from Amazon, THE e-commerce site of all e-commerce sites but don’t let it stop you from using an EBOSI if you don’t have a shopping cart-enabled site, ok?  Ok… )

From: vfe-campaign-response@amazon.com
Sent: 12/25/2010 5:02:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Amazon.com: WowWee Robosapien Humanoid Toy Robot with Remote Control

 
Are you looking for something in our Electronics for Kids department?  If so, you might be interested in these items.

* Wow Wee Mr. Personality Multi Personality Robot
  
by WowWee
   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ALOYR8/ref=pe_vfe_x4

The main key to sending out an EBOSI is timing.  You’ve got to test it to find out what works for you – it’s different for every company.  (A lot of it has to do with what industry you are in – for example, software companies tend to have the most successful EBOSI’s when they send out the e-mails within a couple hours.)

Other things to know about EBOSIs:

• You don’t necessarily need lots of pictures and graphics in your EBOSI e-mails.  It’s worth testing but a lot of companies make their programs work with purely text e-mails. 
• Don’t put too many items in the e-mail and don’t put too few either.  4-6 featured items is a good number for EBOSI’s.  If you don’t have four items, add a little copy to the descriptions, so they’re a bit more robust.
• Keep the e-mails short and sweet.  Personally, I hate when consultants tell you how long your e-mails should be because in the end, nobody knows what works best for you till it is tested. With that said, for an EBOSI to work best, the user needs to click very quickly back into the site.  Not to mention, the best performing trigger e-mails typically look like they were written from me to you (one-to-one).    
• As always, the subject line is critical.  Definitely reference the product the user was looking for — and yes, in this case, it’s more important than the deal but if you can list both (the deal and the offer), that’s great too.
• Amazon uses a terrible “from” address – it’s meaningless.  (It’s so long that “Amazon” doesn’t show up in the box.)  Use a “from” adddress that your users will immediately recognize.
• It’s not included above (I cut it to save space) but you need unsubscribe and copyright messaging at the bottom. 
• EBOSIs work for non-ecommerce sites too.  In fact, a lot of times their statistics are better because the navigation tends to be weaker so the user needs more direction.

Do you have any more tips for EBOSIs?   If so, please add them to the comments!