Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

I come across a lot of email, well all of us do, but I start to get annoyed by the “play it safe mentality”. Especially the blatantly safe images:

• The B2B email with the five way too happy people sitting around a conference room while trying so hard to say diversity at the same time.
• The jewelry email with the excited woman with love in her eyes and a diamond ring on her finger.

It has been a long time since I have seen a unique email come out from a major brand. Is it the direction from the client, trying to be so mass audience that they don’t want to offend anyone? Or is it the agency trying to speak to everyone through one ad? It is probably a little bit of both, but either way something needs to change. Major brand emails need to stop playing it safe and start doing something edgy with their email programs. The most interesting emails I see these days are those brands trying to stand out – t-shirt sites, video games, even text emails from new Web 2.0 companies can be intriguing.

Stop showing the same recycled content over and over. You lose reader interest and soon don’t stand out from the noise, but are the noise.

Brands, ask for your agency to do something more cutting edge, push the proverbial envelope. You pay them for a reason beyond being a production shop, you pay them for ideas. The agency is your partner, stand up for them internally if you like the idea or think they have a good point.

Agencies, show your best work, not always what the client wants. You will be amazed at what they like sometimes. What is the worst that could happen, they say they don’t like it? Actually, no, they fire you but you get the point.