The 10 Most Irritating Points of Emailing

The distribution of emails is a convenient and widely used method to influence the customers’ and subscribers’ choices, such as a decision to order cheap custom papers or to purchase a new smartphone.

Regular newsletters are meant to maintain the customers’ interest to a particular company. These emails are not limited in time for reading, and there is no need to respond to them. Nothing prevents you from unsubscribing if you do not like the content or you are just tired to receive too many notifications. Thus, sending newsletters apparently does not commit anyone to anything, and this fact becomes the foundation for many marketers to bombard our mailboxes with impunity.

What Are the Most Bothersome Points for Customers?

According to a survey conducted by The Advanis Research Company for Adobe in July 2017, the most common reasons for complaints about emailing are:

1. Sent too often — 47%.
2. Content is poorly written, repeated, and bothering — 32%.
3. Offer to buy what has already been purchased — 22%.
4. Newsletters did not attract initially and did not meet expectations later — 22%.
5. Personal information is incorrect — 20%.
6. Bad design of messages — 15%.
7. Personalization — 15%.
8. Lack of personalization — 11%.
9. It is not clear how to buy — 6%.
10. Incorrect links — 6%.

Judging by the answers, it seems that everything is annoying to subscribers. So what to do and how to use emails without enraging the recipients?

6 Mistakes of Email Marketers

Judging by the survey stated above, it becomes clear that it’s hardly possible to create a newsletter adapted to each recipient. Almost the same number of customers rated personalization both positively and negatively. The first commandment for any marketer is that customers present the highest value. It takes a lot of time and effort to create a base of subscribers. Therefore, no marketer can afford to lose subscribers because of one small mistake. It is evident that avoiding errors and minimizing the annoying factors for customers are of great importance. Let’s consider some mistakes that email marketers usually make:

• No clear mailing plan and comprehensive marketing strategy
• Sending information interesting only to the author and not the clients
• No proper understanding of what kind of emails to send and how often
• Mailing to already unsubscribed customers
• Special emailing services are not used
• Statistics is not analyzed

Why a Marketing Plan Is Essential

Email marketing helps build trusting relationships with customers, promote a brand, increase sales, and more. A general marketing plan helps to link all the tools together and provide a clear understanding of where the company is heading and what results it is going to achieve in three-six months or a year. A global strategy and constant work on the image are needed.

Sending newsletters is one of the essential techniques of email marketing. Therefore, a marketer needs to have a marketing plan, where it will be indicated what, to whom, and when the emails must be sent. Also, you have to understand what content is interesting to each group of customers. To create a quality mailing plan, a marketer has to sort out what kind of emails they have to send and why clients might need it. Only then can valuable messages be distributed.

8 Recommendations to Email Marketer

• Subscribers are people just like you. Therefore, test emails on yourself and your colleagues or friends first. But, focus on customers’ interests, and not yours.
• The text should be simple and adequately written. Avoid words with high syllable count when dealing with people. Write the way you usually talk.
• The client should immediately understand that they get useful information when they open an email from you. The way to simplify their task is to place a link at a noticeable place.
• Personalization is essential, but do not be too familiar. Do not cross the line of respect when addressing the client. Otherwise, they might feel offended and unsubscribe at once.
• Try not just to give useful information but evoke emotions and call to actions (CTA). For example, send provocative messages to learn your customer’s opinion. In each area, you can find topics able to cause intense debates.
• A good design of messages plays a significant role, but not as much as the information and its presentation. A marketer can use humor but should do it carefully. The reaction of people to the same joke might not always be the same. Avoid sarcasm and grammar errors.
• Newsletters are better to send only upon the subscribers’ permission. If a database with thousands of addresses is purchased, it does not mean that all those people “can’t wait” to get these emails. It is imperative to build genuine and long-term relationships with customers and not just bother them with ads and promos. In response, you will get only an adverse effect, image deterioration, and a desire to unsubscribe.
• Treat your customers with respect, even those who have unsubscribed from your messages. Do not insist on explanations for that decision because it will create an additional negative effect.

Finally, only a combination of these approaches will lead to a positive outcome. Be useful to customers and work on emails for a long-term result. With time, you will collect a database of your true supporters looking forward to your messages.