Successful email marketers recognise the importance of building relationships with subscribers. But how exactly do you do that? Here’s some tips from Matthew Johnson for wooing your email database.
Well I believe that relationships are built on trust. And trust is gained by delivering on clear expectations. With email marketing, this means making promises to new subscribers up-front and then delivering on these promises time and time again with all of your emails.
So here’s a list of important things you should be saying to your subscribers to help build a long-term, meaningful relationship through email marketing.
1. Would you like to sign up to my email newsletter?
The key to new relationships is getting off on the right foot. With email marketing, that means obtaining permission before you start sending someone your marketing emails. Not only is this the polite thing to do, in most countries (including Australia) it’s a legal requirement with respect to spam compliance. The best way to ask for permission is with a webform that allows people to easily subscribe to your emails.
2. We will not sell or provide your email to any 3rd parties.
This simple promise holds a lot of weight with new subscribers. Most people are very protective over their inboxes, so it’s important for them to know that if they subscribe to your list, they are not going to start receiving unwanted emails from other 3rd parties. So prove to new subscribers that you respect their email by including this statement in your privacy policy and link to it from all of your webforms.
3. You’re in control and you have options.
We all like to feel in control, right? The same goes with how we manage our inboxes. It’s important to give subscribers options for how they wish to hear from you. So let people manage their preferences via update profile forms linked from each of your emails. Examples of what options you might give to subscribers include email frequency (daily / weekly) and email preferences (promotions / newsletters / event invitations).
Successful email marketers recognise the importance of building relationships with subscribers. But how exactly do you do that? Here’s some tips from Matthew Johnson for wooing your email database.
4. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Spam compliance requires you to include an unsubscribe option in all your email marketing messages. Most marketers adhere to this by inserting an unsubscribe link at the bottom of their emails. But to help build trust and set a clear expectation with new subscribers, it’s also worth including a simple statement within your welcome email to confirm they can unsubscribe at any time.
5. I’ll only send you content that you want.
This is a promise you should make to subscribers every time you send an email. Whilst you probably won’t say the physical words, it’s important you let your email content say it for you. This means only sending content that is of genuine interest and value to your subscriber. If you’re not sure what types of content subscribers care about most, ask them via an online survey.
6. I’m listening and willing to have a two-way conversation with you.
The best email marketers do not simply send emails to promote their business. Rather they send emails that make subscribers feel like it’s a two-way communication. So let subscribers know that you value their attention by giving them options to interact with you. Ways to do this include providing a monitored email address for people to reply to (as opposed to noreply@example.com) as well as inviting them to connect via your website or social media pages.
