Win by being less c**p than the rest
Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on June 04, 2008
We may have neglected a very critical contact point that we have with our customers, prospects, and subscribers. That is the very first message that we send to them, a.k.a. the "Welcome Letter."
So wrote Kim McPherson on July 24th, 2000.
Almost eight years later and a new survey by Return Path reveals:
Sixty percent of the companies studied never sent a
welcome message to new subscribers
welcome message to new subscribers
The companies studied were not SOHO types like me. They were top brands like Nike and Sony.
Return Path's Bonnie Malone-Fry blames problems with getting IT folk to take the necessary action. A polite explanation.
a user actively checks a box on the sign-up page of a
Web site, agreeing that he will receive further
communication...This is the minimum amount of permission
considered appropriate
Web site, agreeing that he will receive further
communication...This is the minimum amount of permission
considered appropriate
So wrote Debbie Weil on March 7th, 2001.
Over seven years later and an informal survey by the Email Experience Council reveals that 44% of respondents either use opt-out to build a list (sign people up without permission) or oblige people to uncheck a pre-checked sign-up box to avoid being added to a list.
OK, so a lot of people aren't following best practices. Depressing, but true. But what does this mean for you?
Opportunity.
Things like welcome messages and permission-based list growth are best practices for a reason. They encourage lasting, mutually beneficial email relationships with prospects and customers.
They're also relatively easy to implement using tools provided by even the lowest priced email marketing tools, web applications and software.
If you follow them and your competitors don't, then the growing competitive pressure, diminishing attention spans and rising quality bars will knock the latter out of the inbox and leave you in it.
Tags: email marketing, opt-in email, permission marketing, list welcome messages
[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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