I was at The Email Design Conference in Boston, Massachusetts this past summer and one of the speakers had mentioned that email marketing is a lot like getting into a relationship. I thought about what he was saying and, you know, he was right. As the Email Marketing Specialist and self-proclaimed Carrie Bradshaw at Demac Media, I’m going to share my relationship advice with you.
Life AND business lessons, bet you didn’t see this coming.
YES, you can build a successful email marketing relationship! If you’re using a sophisticated email marketing platform, you’ve got the tools to be a solid partner in this relationship. So what kind of relationships are there? And what do you want your relationship to be?
Related: Personalized Email Marketing: Improve Open Rates and Conversions
Relationship #1: The Golddigger
Are every one of your email campaigns asking subscribers to buy something? Anything and everything? Even if it’s not relevant to them? Your subscribers are not your sugar daddies, they’ll eventually get bored or grow frustrated with you.
Eventual Outcome: I’m sorry, you may learn they’re just not that into you.
Related: Email Marketing: It’s Personal (or at least it should be)
Relationship #2: The Player
Are you batch and blast sending every email campaign? Treating every subscriber the same is no longer acceptable in this day and age. You’ve got data on your consumers – so use it. You have access to their browsing and purchasing behaviour, engagement levels from your email campaigns…heck you can even find out what kind of device they’re using to read your emails. If you’re going to be a player, at least take the time and get to know each of your subscribers on a personal level and treat them with some respect.
Eventual Outcome: No one is happy with the state of this relationship. I’ll stick around until “the one” comes along.
Relationship #3: The One
You know when you’re the perfect partner. You listen to what they say and do (and this is probably the only relationship in which it’s completely acceptable to search their online browsing behaviour). You’re the kind of partner that remembers birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. You know what I’m thinking before I even think it, you can predict what I want and deliver based upon those predictions.
Eventual Outcome: In sickness and in health, ’til death do us part.
Related:How to Make an Impression with Email Marketing
Making the Relationship Work
You can become the perfect partner in your email marketing relationship. Start writing your emails as though they’re coming from a real person, because guess what? They are. You’re probably the one who writes them, not corporate office robot xyz. Start sounding like a human with a personality in your emails, your subscribers will soon catch on and become fans of your writing, maybe you’ll even make them laugh. This is you debiting your relationship account. Eventually a mistake will happen, because you’re a human and hopefully you’ve earned enough debits and are able to poke fun at your minor blip, and you can credit your account.
So go on and get started with revising your email marketing strategy. Just keep the following in mind: be human, be relevant, be observant, be respectful, and never forget my birthday.
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