With Father’s day almost upon us, here’s 13 ways you can apply traditional “dad advice” to improve your email marketing practices.
Always introduce yourself with a firm handshake – send out a ‘Welcome Email’ to all new subscribers fully introducing the concept, product, company or campaign.- First impressions are important – Most unsubscribes happen after the first email, so make sure you’re putting your best self forward.
- Always Be Polite – Address your subscriber with a personal greeting at the beginning of each email
- Never tell a lie; it will come back to bite you – Avoid using misleading subject lines; even though they may get the email opened, you won’t like the repercussions.
- Think before you act – Proofread, proofread, proofread. Once the email is sent, you can’t take it back.
- Treat others as you would want to be treated – Avoid blasting irrelevant content/too many messages.
- Don’t be a pest (or don’t overstay your welcome) – provide a visible opt-out function.
- In order to get, you first need to give – Present offers of value to your subscribers if you want them to reciprocate with purchases down the road.
- Respect others’ wishes – Don’t reject people just because they want to communicate differently (i.e. via Facebook, Twitter or other social channels) instead of just email. Instead, find a way to work with them and accommodate their communication preferences.
- Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes – If you make a mistake in an email (e.g. wrong sales price or date, offensive content), follow up with an apology or other appropriate response.
- You can’t impress everyone – People will opt out of your emails, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Instead of trying to target everyone, focus on your most important audience(s).
- Don’t forget your manners/Say thank you – Don’t underestimate the importance of telling your customers you appreciate their support/business and doing so in a genuine way.
- Learn to listen – Customer feedback is important. Consider sending a short survey to gauge feedback on issues that are key to your business so you can better understand what your customers want.
About the Author: John Murphy is President of ReachMail and member of the Email Experience Council’s speakers bureau who preaches the gospel of email marketing best practices to new and experienced marketers alike.
2 Comments
Even though I’m a professional email marketer – someone who should know better – I still find myself compelled to open a spam email once in a while.
Adding a personal touch to your email is nice. . . unless you think “Dearest Friend” or “Valued Customer” is a personal touch.
3.) “Wait. . .What?”
