Set expectations
Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on October 22, 2007
This is a PS to the earlier post on the role of trust in email marketing.
Part of creating trust is demonstrating that you can meet expectations. And that's a lot easier to do if you can set those expectations yourself.
If you don't ensure prospective subscribers know what to expect from your email program, then two things happen.
1. Some people fail to subscribe because they're not willing to gamble that your emails make it worth giving up their email address.
2. Those that do subscribe will have their own ideas about what to expect. It's difficult to meet these expectations if you know nothing about them. Which means you inevitably disappoint some folk, leading to trust, brand and relationship issues...and (possibly) spam complaints.
Ideally, you need to ensure prospective and new subscribers are clear on:
The two main places you can communicate this info are through sign-up forms and pages, and in welcome messages.
I try to do this with my own sign-up form, for example...
Part of creating trust is demonstrating that you can meet expectations. And that's a lot easier to do if you can set those expectations yourself.
If you don't ensure prospective subscribers know what to expect from your email program, then two things happen.
1. Some people fail to subscribe because they're not willing to gamble that your emails make it worth giving up their email address.
2. Those that do subscribe will have their own ideas about what to expect. It's difficult to meet these expectations if you know nothing about them. Which means you inevitably disappoint some folk, leading to trust, brand and relationship issues...and (possibly) spam complaints.
Ideally, you need to ensure prospective and new subscribers are clear on:
- what you will send (content)
- how often you will send it (frequency)
- what happens to their email address (privacy)
- what the email looks like (design)
The two main places you can communicate this info are through sign-up forms and pages, and in welcome messages.
I try to do this with my own sign-up form, for example...
[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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2 Comments:
I am so thankful to accidently find your blog. I have often wondered about how exactly to build a list without upsetting my customers.
I will also say that I share my customer's passion for not wanting spam emails.
By 
Ria's Collectables, on
29 September, 2008
Glad you are finding value here: good luck with your email marketing efforts!
By 
, on
29 September, 2008
