Avoid email disconnects that hurt your business

Last week, we talked about email as an ongoing experience for recipients...with that experience impacting on how these recipients view your business and/or brand.

Part of ensuring a positive experience is to avoid email disconnects. Those are the components of an email message that jar with the reader, don't add up, spoil the illusion, etc.

Two banal examples: links that don't work and spelling errors.

But there are less obvious disconnects out there that need watching.

Example 1: In today's iMediaConnection, Simms Jenkins reveals the unimpressive results of a survey of reply-to address functionality.

His company sent emails to the "reply-to" address on incoming email newsletters. An alarmingly large number either bounced or disappeared into the online equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. Simms discusses why this disconnect is bad for business.

Example 2: Denise Cox writes on her blog about the dangers of using acronyms and buzzwords in email headers and copy. If you confuse readers...you have a disconnect.

Other subtle disconnects I can think of immediately:

• The design and style of the email not matching the website it comes from.
• The design and style of one kind of email from a company not matching that of other emails from the same source.
  
• Landing pages failing to match expectations. For example, when you click on a product promotion and get taken to a landing page featuring numerous products from the same category, rather than the single product page you were expecting.
• After someone signs-up to your list, failing to send a welcome message or confirmation email. (We are used to subscriptions resulting in an email. We get confused if we take an action and get no re-action.)
• Any conflict between what you say you will send people if they sign up for your list and what you actually do send them.

Again, every aspect of the email experience counts towards the overall impression you make. So it pays to take a step back now and then, and look at all the elements that contribute to that experience...

Tags: email marketing, landing pages, email branding, email design

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