Skype

Skype uses its password confirmation email as a useful tool to tell new customers about the extra services and add-ons it offers.

However, the email is pretty impersonal and lacks structure. It overwhelms the reader with fussy links and fonts, off-putting marketing-speak and unfocussed messages.

Readers could be confused and frustrated by the content and miss potentially important information that they might find useful.

Analysis

1. There are too many messages and calls to action jostling for attention here. The email bombards the recipient with information that isn’t set out very clearly. 'Pretty cheap calls', ‘Start making cheap calls’ and ‘Skype-to-Skype calls are always free’ are conflicting messages that water down the main point of the email. Despite the simple design, it manages to look very busy.

2. The email keeps continuity with Skype’s branding (plenty of white space and the distinctive blue bubbles), however this has been done at the expense of giving the email any clear sections. Presenting content in this way forces you to read all the copy to find out what’s on offer. Time-poor users are not likely to do this and may miss important information.

3. There are too many links, font sizes and styles scattered haphazardly all over the page, pulling attention away from the main focus.

4. The eye is immediately drawn to the central blue graphic and main call to action ‘Make your first call for free’. It isn’t necessary to duplicate this message with the link below that says ‘Make your free call now’. This repetition just over-complicates the email, using up space without adding anything of value.

5. The title ‘Skype-to-Skype calls are always free’ doesn’t reflect what this paragraph is about. It’s actually about searching for friends on Skype. If readers click through on this link and see the landing page isn't relevant, this will put them off reading any further.

6. Very little in this email is personal to the customer. It is simply a list of calls to action and feels very functional, so the reader may feel marketed at. Signing off as ‘The People at Skype’ is rather faceless too.

7. Some of the links are misleading. ‘International SMS’ takes you to a page that lists all of Skype’s services and is not specifically about SMS. If you’re scan-reading, ‘here’s how’ is not very clear either - unless you read the rest of the sentence. Links that lead you astray are very frustrating.

8. The headset promotion is hidden at the foot of the email. Some users may miss it because they have to scroll down to see it.

9. The email is primarily providing a service to a user who has already subscribed to and downloaded Skype, so hiding the link to the customer service section at the bottom is not very helpful. It isn’t very distinctive either – you could easily miss it.

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