We’ve already established that people are starting to hit the reset button on email. It’s probably for the best because I think we all receive notifications about companies we don’t care about or have lost their luster. Personally, email marketing is amazing – when it’s done right. It’s inexpensive, it offers unlimited space and it directly connects the customer to the website storefront. But not every company is doing it right and therefore, we may have an inbox epidemic on our hands.
In this month’s 5ives, I’ll show some bad email marketing practices, how you can improve online relationships and dodge an influx of unsubscribe requests.
1. Inconsistency
Always remember, your subscriber base chose to be included in your email mailing list. This means they want to know what you have to say. Don’t leave ’em hanging. Be sure if you set up an email marketing schedule, you stick to it. It’s easier said than done. The Absolute Truth, Absolute Marketing Group’s email newsletter, generally goes out around the 15th of every month. Sure, we’ve been late before, but fairly certain we’ve never missed a monthly issue. Be diligent in your pursuit of consistency.
2. Over-sending
On the flip side of inconsistency is over-sending. Nothing clutters up an inbox more than seeing multiple emails per week. Unless you’re a daily online publication, no one should receive more than a weekly email. I feel that’s even pushing it. There are times when a special email message should be delivered – an annual sale (unless there’s one every week), a new store opening, a major news event that relates to a product launch justifies an extra email. But keep your breaking news to a minimum. Don’t annoy those who wanted to connect with you.
3. Poor Offers or No Offers
If your company informs people that subscribers are eligible for special offers, you must deliver. That is the customer promise. Here’s how to break the heart of a loyal subscriber: send them an exclusive offer on Tuesday. Then run the same offer in the Wednesday newspaper. There’s no benefit to being loyal. There’s no feeling of being a part of the “in” crowd. If you offer nothing in your email while an in-store sale is going on, well, now you see why people are declaring inbox bankruptcy.
4. Recycled Content
Maybe your company doesn’t offer business-to-consumer goods. You could be a service provider or sell big-ticket items. In that case, your email marketing most likely educates and informs subscribers of the industry. If that’s the case, don’t cut and paste other content from the Web. If a Google search turns up the same three articles in your email, you’ve insulted your audience and done a major disservice to your brand. That isn’t to say you can’t link to industry articles or include information from the Web in your articles. Not everything has to be organic, but any story or information provided should have your company’s thumbprint on it. The reader should still know and feel the information is coming from you.
5. Timing
Sending emails on a Monday or Friday is a common mistake. Cliche as it may be, timing is everything. Think about, when is someone most engaged in his or her email? My guess would be during the 8-5 work day. Eight o’clock might be too early – let your reader down a cup of coffee first. Anytime around the lunch hour is bad timing because your readers are either scrambling so they can go to lunch or bombarded with the emails he or she received during lunch. Anything after four o’clock gets tossed into the “I’ll do it tomorrow” pile. In other words, the best time to email is around 10 a.m. or 3 p.m. As far as the day of the week goes, Monday and Friday don’t work. Mondays are too hectic as people catch up from the weekend and people try to get out of the email cycle on Fridays. Sending your email marketing messages at the right time and place is a simple fix that many overlook.
Fix the bad. Keep the good. Don’t let the current inbox bankruptcy buzzword stunt the growth you can experience by using the medium correctly.