It’s a story as old as AOL messenger. “A solid plan for email” is what you scratched earnestly at the top of your digital engagement to-do list several months ago. Thus, when you finally got around to handling it, you signed up with a content management system and pretty quickly you started filling up the inboxes of your loyal customers. Yet almost as quickly, these kind folks unsubscribed to your email list, leaving you wondering, “What the heck happened?” We can’t be sure, but it might have something with you being a total jerkface — or, at the very least, exhibiting what subscribers would consider jerkface-like behavior.
Jumping into email is undoubtedly a wise move. It’s still one of the fastest ways to keep in touch with our loyal following. Still, to avoid being the aforementioned jerkface in question, some simple rules should be followed. Primarily, respect your subscribers. Before blasting them with tons of messages about new products and the latest snazzy editions of your email newsletter, maybe you should ask them first if they’re interested in this kind of thing. A quick email inquiring “Would you like to receive fun/interesting/money-saving/informative/fabulous email updates from us?” will help you determine quickly who’s onboard and who needs to be left alone. Once they’ve agreed, some simple wording that binds you from giving their email to any other company will help sweeten the deal, too. Also falling in the respect column is personalization. Personalization is currently a big buzzword in email marketing, but for a surprising reason — marketers are totally missing the boat on this. New reports are showing that even though most businesses have access to information which allows them to talk directly to their customers, they rarely use it in email marketing. This is crazy. Instead, if you know what kind of services they get from you each month, personalize an email to let them know about discounts or other services you think they might enjoy. Simple questions about gender, favorite things and interests can also help you create personalized emails for your followers help assure they get more of the kind of emails they actually want to open.
The journey from email supertool to email superstar can be a quick one with some simple tweaking of your current marketing practices. Be thoughtful about the amount of times you send email blasts. Listen to your gut. If you think you’ve sent out too many emails in a short period of time, you probably have. Cute and well-designed email newsletters get opened a lot more than ugly, boring ones, so make sure your blasts look as good as they read before they go out. Lastly, make it worth their while. We all have enough crap in our inboxes, so give them reasons to open your emails. Monthly deals, coupons, videos, contests, recipes, interviews and how-to articles are a few ways to liven up your email marketing.
Nobody wants to be a jerkface; with a little respect, creativity and thoughtfulness, you don’t have to be.
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