It’s you, not them: 4 email relationship problems

Today’s online marketing world is full of lovely words like engagement and empowerment, communication and conversation, interaction and integration, friends, fans and followers.

Many of these keywords go back to the age-old idea of building a strong relationship between your organization and the members of your audience.

Little of this is truly new: email was one of the first digital relationship builders…a regular touchpoint that strengthened the bond between sender and subscriber.

However, this idea of email marketing as relationship marketing has become an all-pervading truism worthy of little comment or analysis.

Shame.

Because if we gave real thought to this relationship idea, we wouldn’t make half the mistakes we do. Relationship neglect sees many marketers led astray by their assumptions or failing to make appropriate adjustments to how they use email.

Here are four examples…

[This post was inspired by Sharon Long of the We Know Words group of freelance copywriters, who kindly asked me to muse briefly on these issues for a book she's writing.]

Problem 1: Showing a lack of interest in starting a relationship

If email relationships are important, we need to make the effort to start them.

The first step in the relationship is simply to inform a potential subscriber of the very existence of the email list. Yet many organizations still insist on, for example, inviting website visitors to play “where’s the list?”

Any contact point with customers and prospects is an opportunity to pitch for a sign-up. But at the very least, a sign-up form or link needs to be on every page of your website, in as prominent position as you can give it.

If other website pressures prevent this, then at least provide a sign-up opportunity at key website points, such as:

• Typical exit pages (identified through your web analytics)
• During or after purchase/download processes
• At the conclusion of other interactions indicating strong interest, such as a sign-up form at the bottom of a long article
• Paid search landing pages (you paid to get them there: if they don’t take the desired action, an email address at least gives you a chance to keep the communication going)

But it’s not just about making people aware of your email list.

Potential subscribers need encouragement to…um…subscribe, and thus begin the email relationship.

Sign-up forms and pages need to demonstrate the benefits of doing so. And they need to set expectations to avoid later remorse and disappointment.

Problem 2: Not all relationships are equal

Our personal relationships have different strengths. I don’t talk to the postman like I do to my wife (I sincerely hope she feels the same way).

And I don’t talk to the postman now like I talked to him five years ago.

So it is with email subscribers.

Yet we tend to use the same voice, content, style and design for everyone.

It seems an obvious argument for segmenting subscribers by relationship. Which brings the problem of definition: segment how? (Not to mention costs.)

Possibilities might be:

• length of time on list (a topic touched on in this article on template changes)
• purchase history
• open/click history
• website browsing history
• propensity to share

If the data challenge seems daunting (it does to me), the segmentation by relationship approach begins simply with the welcome message.

New subscribers tend to be thrown into the same stream of email messages that long-time subscribers are getting. It’s like conducting a first date as if it was the twentieth. Instead, new subscribers first need to get one or more welcome emails which, for example:

• thank them for joining the list (possibly with an unexpected gift, like a free download or coupon)
• remind them of the benefits of joining
• inform them of any important administrative functions (like a subscriber preference center)
• introduce them to the kind of content or offers they’re likely to get in future

Other examples of segmentation by relationship include lifting email frequency to your “best” subscribers, or specific emails designed to re-enthuse subscribers as they approach the threshold “time on list” when response fatigue sets in significantly.

Problem 3: If it’s not mutually beneficial, it’s not going to work

The strength of any relationship largely depends on the benefits received by each side: you can’t expect selfless love from your subscribers.

Email marketing is a value exchange.

The subscriber gives you an email address and attention and, in return, you deliver value to them. Either through useful, timely and/or entertaining content or with relevant offers and promotions.

If subscribers don’t get enough value out of this relationship, they leave (unsubscribe) or ignore you.

Nothing revolutionary there. However…

Many of us play lip service to this concept, but our obsession with technology and numbers leads us to lose sight of the fact that subscribers are people, with human needs and wants.

And we’re often hitting a targeting glass ceiling. We look to squeeze a few percentage point increases to opens, clicks and/or conversions by fiddling with subject lines, or refining the offer or topic content in our standard broadcast emails.

But if the email relationship is to really blossom, we perhaps should look to additional new ways of delivering value and increasing relevancy, for example by:

• using trigger emails that respond directly and relevantly to subscriber actions
• looking to increase the emotional value we deliver through style, personality, voice, etc.
• investing in content marketing

Problem 4: It’s not actually a relationship

I’ve had a brand’s beer but not a beer with a brand.

One of my favorite topics is overestimating the strength of an email relationship: for most subscribers it’s an extremely tenuous commitment. Marketers who forget this often assume unconditional love, meaning subscribers will always forgive the occasional (or regular) transgression.

Some may, but all subscribers have their limits. Particular traps here are:

• Abusing permission by assuming implied permission: sending the kind of email that subscribers aren’t expecting.
• Abusing the privacy needs of those subscribers. As Rick Buck wrote recently:

“Getting permission from your customers means more than getting an opt-in to receive your e-mail and texts. Conditionally, it is about presenting them with a value proposition that instills confidence that you will respect and protect the data they choose to provide…”

• Coasting: assuming that loyalty, response and the sender’s image remain unaffected by a long break between emails, thin content, irrelevant offers, sloppy writing, etc.. Unfortunately, the typical subscriber is not a forgiving partner. Delivering value is important, delivering consistent value also.

So, do you agree? Is it time to rediscover the relationship aspect of email marketing?

Find related articles:

• Channel: Email strategy

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