Marcelo Calbucci

    I just got an email from UPS that I was 99.9% sure it was spam. Turns out it was a legitimate email, but it was poorly done.

    First the message comes from "QuantumView [QuantumViewNotify@ups.com]". Seriously? Is that the name that you guys choose? I'm sure it is some kind of internal tool or service on UPS, but as a customer it couldn't be less effective. Couldn't it be called "UPS Shipping Notification" or something less bizarre.

    Then it comes the title of the message:

    "UPS Ship Notification, Tracking Number 1Z341YAY21587224761"

    Ok, not bad, at least it says it is a UPS package info with the famous UPS tracking number, but it doesn't really tell me anything. It looks like spam. If it has a link on the body it sure must be spam (wait, there is a link in the body of the message!)

    There is two mistakes on the title, first, it doesn't tell me who is it from, nor tells me that you guys know who I am. Next time, try this.

    "UPS Shipping from Digital Room to Marcelo Calbucci"

    Just by having my full name on the title is a big plus. Most spammers only figure out "marcelo" because that is the email alias. Telling who is shipping the content also helps because you'll immediately identify what it is. UPS knew about Digital Room because it appeared on the body of the message.

    Now, the worst part of the email is the body. It has a lot of legal disclaimers right at the top, it has the shipper ("Digital Room") buried in the middle of the legalese, and it has a poorly formatted content, all in black, that makes it extra harder for me to see my name, the content being shipped, the tracking number.

    My suggestion for emails like these, are to stack rank what are the 3 most important things that you want to get across. Put them right at the top, easy to identify and read, and then add all the crap from the Marketing team, from the Legal team, from the great guys from IT at the bottom. On the case of this message, the 3 most important things are:

1. Who shipped the content;
2. What is the tracking number;
3. When is it expected to arrive.

    There was one super cool thing about these email: It didn't have any embedded or linked images.