Email marketing – The right way and the wrong way
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Well I’ll start with the fact that I had seen this before but reading an email from Paul Myers brought it to the forefront. You really should be following Paul and can sign up for his newsletter at Talk Biz News. No affiliate link or hidden agenda just access to someone that supplies good content.
End of the commercial now on to a bit of a rant. More and more people are using [Personal] in their headlines. Now sometimes it is but if you are using this as a ploy to get me to open your email I will be removing myself from your list.
Here is an example I got earlier this week that really got me pissed then I will show you the right way.
Personal Invite To Be A Contributor
Now this was for a giveaway and went to the entire list from an autoresponder. The topic was about Photoshop and “Since I know YOU also have a site that could work with this, you were one of the first people I thought of.”
Excuse me!
Anyone that knows me knows that blogging is where most of my products are and when it comes to graphics I outsource them. I can barely use photoshop and quite truthfully really don’t want to take the time to get better because there is an art to design and my mind does not work that way.
Yes I could probably get the technical things done quite easily but…
The technical part is the easy side of graphical design. So I can use photoshop to resize and convert things but I am not abouit to teach or create products about it.
So quite truthfully this person does not know me and has no reason to get personal with me. And..
It won’t happen again because the good part of an autoresponder email is the unsubscribe link and I do know how to use it.
The right way
Just this morning as I was getting ready to rant about this use of personal to try and get me to open your email I received this.
Mike… we met in Philly at JV alert… something personal to ask
Now this did not come from an autoresponder. Here is how it started.
“You might not remember me, but I met you in Philly. I hung out with Robert Plank, and also Bishop Anders a lot outside..”
Now that he has helped refresh my memory he explains why he is emailing me. This is from Jason Fladlien and he is doing something special to honor his 8 year old brother who died of brain cancer. You can check it out at
He wanted to know if I would be interested in contributing to the event by doing a teleseminar and would I promote his tribute page. The answer to the latter part is I just did.
I went and checked out the page and he is giving out some great value and instantly recognized some of the bonuses and knew who had contributed them. I will be emailing him back shortly to do the teleseminar. I will let you know when it is scheduled.
Now the real point here is that yes using personal can get me to open the email. Using it on your autoresponder will also get me to unsubscribe.
The key to your email marketing is to create a relationship so that I will like you and trust you enough to spend money on your recommendations. Using that personal crap will get me to open your email but…
If it is not really personal you have lost my trust and will find it almost impossible for me to ever purchase anything from you. Kind of defeats the purpose of building that list doesn’t it?
I bring this up because it has become so common for me to see this. I have unsubscribed from 4 lists in the last two weeks because of this. If you are new and see this you might try it because you see everyone else doing it. Think about the consequences before you do it.
As always your coments are appreciated.
Mike Paetzold
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Disclaimer: Some of the links mentioned within this post or posts it may lead to are my affiliate links and in such case I will get compensated for recommending those products. However, I will never recommend something that I don't personally believe in and I welcome your questions and feedback.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Hi Mike,
I agree with you, sometimes I don’t even read them, just delete. I appreciate the good advice. Haven’t set up my autoresponder yet but when I do I definitely won’t use the personal headline.
Thanks!
Melinda
February 10th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Hi Mike,
As you mentioned, autoresponder messages do have a great feature, an easy unsubscribe. I also judge the first 4 or 5 messages I get back and use the unsubscribe if it doesn’t appear to be of interest. There is so much good and bad around and you have to be selective to be able to manage your incoming mail….
Fred
Fred Lotgering – Excel in MLM´s last blog post..List Building and Relationship Marketing
February 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Thanks for the great advice Mike,
I too have seen a lot more of this lately. I personally don’t like it either and will take your advice and un-subscribe.
I think that some people are getting desparate and trying anything that they can to boost their open rates, but I agree with you in that this will do more harm than good in the long run.
Thanks for the great info Mike!
Brett McEllhiney
Brett McEllhiney´s last blog post..Build a Niche Marketing Business – Step 7: Find A Product
February 10th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
My you’re tough. Can’t blame your though, and the number of emails constantly increases, despite my pledges to not subscribe and or buy anything more.
I don’t think I will cut anyone because of the [personal] offense, but every few weeks when I go on a delete rampage they are likely to be included unless they have provided something useful.
I guess it’s a matter of style. I probably would save myself some time if I nipped them in the bud.
Earl Netwal´s last blog post..Which is Worse no Meta Tag Keywords or the Wrong Ones?
February 10th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Email marketing should be done with high consideration of the list as there should be some kind of value in every email delivered. Subscribers opt in because they trust that your business can offer value to them, whether through information, products, or services. Times are more sensitive than ever and web users are quick to opt out. Businesses need to keep them engaged and build trust with every email campaign.
EmailProfessional´s last blog post..Interspire Shopping Cart Virtual Mall Edition Now Available for Purchase
February 10th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
How can you get personal with me if you don’t even know me. Great rant Mike and I agree 100% with your thoughts. At least let me get to know you before you want to insinuate that we can get “personal”.
Andre Arnett´s last blog post..You Can Control Your Own Destiny
February 10th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Mike,
i agree with you about people using words that imply that they know me personally.
Like the headline: “Personal Invite To Be A Contributor.”
Obviously, they do not know me, and it’s not a personal invite.
However, I now sure as to how you mean personal. If you get an email with the following headline, Do you consider that as personal?
“Mike, Here Is An Invite To Be A contributor To A New Giveaway”
Does the use of your first name fall into your category of personal?
Thanks for the good post.
Lonnie
Lonnie Minton´s last blog post..4 Easy Ways To Build An Effective Opt-In List