1

Responsys Customer Bulletin

“Forward to a Friend” Functionality on Responsys Interact Version 6 At Responsys, we have been monitoring the changes in the industry related to the use and traction of “Forward to a Friend” (FTAF) functionality within email campaigns. This feature has been available in ESP solutions for 10 years, and many marketers have made it a standard element of their campaign templates. However, several developments have taken place over the past few years that shed new light on the usefulness and effectiveness of this capability. As a result, we are choosing to withhold support for FTAF on Interact Version 6. The reasons for this position stem from three areas: deliverability, performance, and the availability of better alternatives. Deliverability and Reputation FTAF has always had some inherent risks and liabilities from a deliverability and reputation standpoint. Since the feature works by allowing an email recipient to supply the email addresses of one or more other recipients, this negates one of the core principles of permission marketing: that each person who receives a marketing email has deliberately requested to receive email communications from the sender-company. While the “forwarder” may have all the best intentions in mind when supplying a friend’s email address, there is a standing risk that the person who the email will be forwarded to is not a willing recipient. Even worse, it is possible that the recipient could have previously opted-out of communications from that company (possibly using a different email address) or could be angered by receiving them – in which case, this feeling could easily be directed at the company itself, even though it was forwarded supposedly by a friend. When this happens, an increase in spam complaints, and possibly even alleged CAN-SPAM violations could ensue. These could thus impact a sender’s domain reputation. Responsys has had strict guidelines, as well as advanced functionality, to help our clients avoid potential missteps related to FTAF – such as respecting opt-out suppression for FTAF. For clients who successfully use FTAF now, with the right education and precautions, it can be a valid aspect of your email marketing strategy. However, our recent analysis and findings may encourage at least some companies to reconsider whether FTAF is a good tactic. Performance and Effectiveness We have been actively researching the click-through and adoption performance of FTAF functionality within our client’s email campaigns. Many of our higher-volume senders are seeing extremely few clicks on FTAF links. We are even seeing high-volume senders (over 100M / month) count FTAF form-submissions in the single digits. With performance at these low levels for many companies, it is easy to make the argument that including this feature does not justify any of the risk listed above. While more research on this is currently in progress, we believe there are several reasons for this low and seemingly degrading usage by campaign recipients. First, FTAF requires the completion of a form that takes the user outside of the marketing call-to-action – which is often more work than the recipient is looking to take on. Second, as more and more people read email on mobile devices, the task of completing a form on a resulting web page is more cumbersome. And third, there are other ways, including an important

2

new alternative, for recipients to forward marketing content to their friends, described in the next section. Availability of Substitutes For engaged recipients who are enticed to “spread the word” about a campaign or a promotion, there are several ways to do this other than FTAF. First of all, the forward button on the email client is by far the most readily available, and requires no thought or work. In our observation, most people who want to share a promotion with their friends will simply do this the old-fashioned way: by simply forwarding it directly. Second, with the explosion of social networking, recipients now have an easy way to share content with a much wider group by clicking on “share with your network” (SWYN) links that are now standard features in Responsys Interact. Both of these alternatives provide fast and easy ways to share content, and avoid the usability and potential deliverability risks described above. Summary and Proposals As a result of assessing these three topics above, we are no longer recommending FTAF as a prominent inclusion in your marketing campaigns. For this reason, we are currently not supporting FTAF as a feature for clients on Version 6. For clients on Version 6 who wish to have viral sharing capabilities, we recommend you replace any previously existing FTAF links with SWYN links. For clients who have been using FTAF (either at Responsys or with previous ESPs), we recommend you review the click-through statistics for these links. As mentioned above, it’s very possible or even likely that these links are not yielding the results that would justify any of the possible downsides listed in this statement. For clients who believe that their business or their customer-base has a special fit for FTAF, and your FTAF links have been demonstrating high performance, please contact your account manager, and we can discuss alternate strategies or approaches.