Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

I’m Aaron, the new guy here at eROI and presently the invited interloper at the helm of Return on Subscriber. Recently I’ve noticed a number of brands using the radio to express their current crush on email.  For those of you born post-1985, a radio (pronounced rey-dee-oh) is the boxy thing in most cars between the dashboard and the climate controls.  There are also other versions of these devices that reside inside homes and offices; can you imagine?  None of these devices allow you to shuffle, share, download, tweet or even choose which song you’re going to listen to.  You simply tune in and hope it works out.

Ostensibly it makes sense for brands to use a media like radio or television to drive email subscriptions.  Promoting channels with other channels isn’t new, innovative or even creative, but it is a good idea.  It shows a brand’s interest in getting to know their customers better, intent to engage with customers in a more meaningful way, and a departure from the brand’s traditional way of thinking.  Excellent!  This is what we all want right?  However, some brands don’t seem to be thinking through the experience their shiny new subscribers will have before they drive people to their sign up forms.  There is a lot that goes into a well-constructed email program, from capturing the email address through the first message.  Creating an experience that teaches new subscribers how to interact with you is the best way to start your new relationship and maximize the lifetime value of your list.

Three things to consider before driving the masses to your subscription form:

1. Don’t Ask For Too Much Information
   The goal here is to get an email address, not a dossier, so keep it short.  Only ask for a piece of information if you intend to use it.  This is only the beginning of your brand’s relationship with this subscriber; there will be other opportunities to learn more about them as time goes on.
2. Set Expectations
   Help your new subscribers understand what they can expect from you. News, offers, event invitations, new stuff… let them know what they’ll be getting, how often they’ll get it, and how they can interact with it.
3. Respect Preferences
   If you ask for them, stick to them.  An email address is valuable so treat new subscribers with the respect they deserve.  If they indicate they would like to receive emails weekly, send weekly.  If they specify men’s clothing and fishing supplies, do not send special offers for children’s clothes and cosmetics.  Respecting preferences will get your emails read and clicked on, and drive conversions.

We all know subscribers are valuable– especially new ones– so care for them.  Nurture them so they’ll become great customers and advocates for your brand.

I am surprised every email marketing program doesn’t allow subscribers the ability to change the  email address they receive campaigns at. According to Pew,  ”More than half of working adults (53%) have both personal and work accounts.” (You don’t want to know how many I have). You can’t expect that the email address someone used to subscribe to your email program will never change. If you are only giving them the choice to unsubscribe, that is the choice they will make.

Here is an Example: The Email

Here Were the Choices: Preference Center

What do you think I did? If your ESP doesn’t give you the option to allow subscribers the ability to change their email address, you might want to investigate one that does.

If someone wants to unsubscribe, just let them unsubscribe.

Making the unsubscribe process difficult or confusing will just aggravate your (former) subscribers and cause real damage to their perception of your business or brand. Don’t make them log-in or make the text confusing. Your not only delaying the inevitable,  your making it worse. And why? If they can’t figure out how to unsubscribe, they might stay and turn into a more engaged subscriber?  Doubtful. The next time your name comes up, that bad experience will be their first memory. Just let them go, it will actually improve your program. (more…)

Been awhile since you sent to  your email list?

A long while?

Follow YouTube’s lead….(click to enlarge)

This is spot-on.  The only thing I would add to this would be… (more…)

Many Email Marketers lead off an email with a link to “view the email as a webpage” or “If you are having trouble viewing this email, click here.” This has shown to be an effective strategy, as this link will usually rank highly in CTR stats.

Another trend is also asking the subscriber to add the email address to their address book or safe-sender list. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I know If I have a safe-sender list. What exactly do I need to do?

I think Bose did a great job of adding a link to instructions for all of the widely-used email clients to ensure delivery.

To ensure you receive our emails, please add Bose@email.bose.com to your address book. Click here for instructions.

A good idea I thnk is worth copying. As more and more ISP’s deal with delivery issues, anything you can do to establish your relationship, the better.

A question that I am often asked is, “How often should I send my email newsletters?” and of course the answer is the same, “well, it depends”, but there are a number of questions that should be asked first:

How long does it take you to develop fresh new content?
What resources are available to you?
How often do you do direct mail?

If you are truely doing a newsletter, monthly is a good starting point, if you can get in a rythem and the newsletters are coming easily to you, try more frequently.

If you notice that your response rates – open and click – are declining recently, take a step back and slow it down a bit. This normally helps your response rates

(more…)