Today will be sweet and simple. Here are 5 things to never do in email marketing. And when I say, "never," I'm freaking serious. Bend or break at your own risk.
1. Don't tell someone to follow you on Twitter or Facebook but then fail to provide a link to these pages you speak so highly of. This goes for all links. Test them. Make sure they work.
2. Purchased lists are the devil. Avoid them like E. coli. They destroy your credibility and integrity, and worse, you end up with a bunch of angry subscribers and a raging attrition rate. Not. Worth. Your. Money.
3. NEVER USE ALL CAPS. -- It's annoying and it always feels like you're yelling. Making something all caps doesn't ensure that the subscriber is going to read your email any more than if it were in a normal case.
4. Don't complicate the sign up or unsubscribe process. A complex sign up form is like punching someone in the face for wanting to come talk to you about your product/service. And a three step unsubscribe process is like kicking them after you've punched them in the face. (Plus, it's not CAN-SPAM compliant.) And cease and desist signing people up to your email program for the sole reason they purchased something from you. At least tell them that by submitting their order they will be added to the email program, and then give them the option to decline your generous offer.
5. Stop writing novels for content. No one has time to read it all. Point your subscribers to your website/blog/article so they can read if they'd like. Give your subscriber an action to take. Not only will your subscribers thank you for being direct and to the point, you can use their clicks as a metric to gauge success.
No comments:
Post a Comment