Fatherly Wisdom for Email Marketers

Source: John Murphy, President ReachMail

With Father’s day almost upon us, here’s 13 ways you can apply traditional “dad advice” to improve your email marketing practices.

1. Always introduce yourself with a firm handshake – send out a ‘Welcome Email’ to all new subscribers fully introducing the concept, product, company or campaign.
2. First impressions are important – Most unsubscribes happen after the first email, so make sure you’re putting your best self forward.
3. Always Be Polite – Address your subscriber with a personal greeting at the beginning of each email
4. Never tell a lie; it will come back to bite you – Avoid using misleading subject lines; even though they may get the email opened, you won’t like the repercussions.
5. Think before you act – Proofread, proofread, proofread. Once the email is sent, you can’t take it back.
6. Treat others as you would want to be treated – Avoid blasting irrelevant content/too many messages.
7. Don’t be a pest (or don’t overstay your welcome) – provide a visible opt-out function.
8. In order to get, you first need to give – Present offers of value to your subscribers if you want them to reciprocate with purchases down the road.
9. Respect others’ wishes – Don’t reject people just because they want to communicate differently (i.e. via Facebook, Twitter or other social channels) instead of just email. Instead, find a way to work with them and accommodate their communication preferences.
10. Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes – If you make a mistake in an email (e.g. wrong sales price or date, offensive content), follow up with an apology or other appropriate response.
11. You can’t impress everyone – People will opt out of your emails, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Instead of trying to target everyone, focus on your most important audience(s).
12. Don’t forget your manners/Say thank you – Don’t underestimate the importance of telling your customers you appreciate their support/business and doing so in a genuine way.
13. Learn to listen – Customer feedback is important. Consider sending a short survey to gauge feedback on issues that are key to your business so you can better understand what your customers want.

This post borrowed from: http://emailcritic.com/2011/05/fathers-day-email-marketing-advise/