Email marketing has gone through a few phases in terms of perception over the past few years. The rise of social media led some to assume its imminent death, claiming that the coverage of social feeds and the reach it gave brands made email irrelevant. The idea had its moment of traction, but it was ultimately proven false. After that initial phase of email marketing being considered dead, the way social media worked and the way consumers themselves responded proved that, in fact, emails were more important than ever.
Thanks to email marketing, brands had control over what they sent, when and how. The return was also higher and the response was usually greater. Far from being written off, email marketing had – and still has – great potential. The digital marketing strategy had to go through this platform – no matter what.
But as much as it works and as much interest as it arouses for brands, email marketing is an art, something that must be done correctly and, above all, in which bad practices must be avoided. Mistakes are expensive – as much as a click that removes the consumer from the mailing list – and saturating recipients is never a good idea. Falling into certain email marketing mistakes simply burns out audiences.
The heavy brand, very heavy
Unless you’re sending out great deals and discounts – and even then – there’s nothing more unpleasant in terms of email marketing than the annoying brand profile. It’s the one that sends one email after another and another again, cluttering up the inbox of its consumers with campaigns, repetitive messages and more and more information that, at that point, the consumer doesn’t even want to look at anymore. It doesn’t matter if your latest email is the best and most exciting, the consumer is so fed up with seeing you that they’ll send it straight to the recycle bin.
Yes, persistence is important. But we must find a balance.
The problem with “sensitive” campaigns
In the weeks leading up to the last Mother’s Day, The Body Shop sent an email that wasn’t exactly a promotion. It explained that it was going to send emails related to the colombia phone number material holiday and asked if you preferred not to. You could quickly unsubscribe from that mailing list. The action of the cosmetics and perfumery chain is, precisely, an example of what should be done and how not to make a mistake that hurts – and a lot – consumers. Certain campaigns, at certain times in life, can become an emotional blow.
That’s why companies need to be careful with their campaigns, how, when and to whom they launch them. Being left in peace with campaigns of this type when you have just lost a family member, for example, is not only annoying, but sad and, in the long run, negative for the brand that launches it. Allowing consumers more control over this information is not so complicated and the return is very positive.
Poor data collection
Doing good email marketing doesn’t just mean collecting email addresses and sending campaigns and more campaigns selling offers. It also means profiling that data and doing it in a conscious, well-crafted way. It’s something I think about every time. Scot Rail sends me a campaign how to resist fake dlrs? announcing their offers. How many train lines are cut off in Scotland if the weather is bad. I once bought some train tickets – indicating. In my personal details that my address was not. In the same country: so much so that I had to physically pick them. Up at a station – and since then they have turned me into one of their leads to encourage consumption. Obviously, my roi is zero. The data i gave them when i made. The purchase already pointed in that direction.
The fake email that scares
Hurry up! Time is running out! You must check in now! Some airlines have fallen for this trick, sending an email with a subject line that asks you to act – and that sounds a little scary – and when you open it it turns out it’s not that big of a deal. You can’t even check in for your flight unless egypt data you pay extra. Maybe a couple of consumers will bite and pay the extra they don’t need to pay, but the overall effect isn’t exactly that. It’s more of a certain nagging feeling that you’ve been outsmarted. Drama should only be used when it’s really necessary.
Hide information so you don’t leave
Even though data protection law requires that. It is always easy to unsubscribe from these types of services, hiding information. Making it confusing or creating paths that lead. The consumer down paths that are in the brand’s interest – or, much worse. Trying to achieve results with a touch of shaming – is always, always a mistake. The reaction will not be positive or optimistic. Nobody wants to feel trapped in a loop of bad email marketing.