Not everyone wants your email. If that's true, why do customers signup anyway?
Many customers register their email address, but don’t opt in for email marketing. This is surprisingly common, and is a mystery to email marketers. Clients struggle to explain why 20% of their e-commerce customers are on a poorly named “suppression list”? What’s going on here?
When customers don’t opt in, are they saying they don’t love the brand? Could it be: our “fabulous deals” fall flat? Is it a matter of love the brand/hate the email?
The marketer in me doesn’t want to admit customers don’t want promotional email. Maybe I didn’t explain the benefits properly. If I used magical words, maybe that would’ve changed a customer’s mind. The best practice here is obvious.
The best email marketers set expectations properly. What types of emails will subscribers receive? How often? What are the benefits of receiving marketing email (not just sales incentives, but value-add)? How are subscribers in control?
Nordstrom has given this some thought. Their signup form says “Yes, sign me up for emails about the latest looks, sales, events and more.”
Amtrak features discounts, but there is value-add for news and information
Remember customers who love your brand, look forward to your emails. They pick them out of crowded inboxes. This DSW fan enjoyed getting 2 emails the same day. But not everyone wants to receive promotional, deal-centric emails. What are the best practices for how communicate without email?
Opt in, Opt out – make up your mind
Are you afraid of subscribers who opt in but subsequently opt out? From my experience, these are true opt outs in the sense that they experienced the email marketing program then said “forget it.” Fortunately, most brands discover these numbers are tiny as visualized using a brand in the home improvement industry.
Many clients draw an imaginary line between engaged- and unengaged subscribers. Once email subscribers cross the border to unengaged, they get the silent treatment. This is where email coops are worth a test.
Email co-ops match your email address to other emailers and let you to see your dormant customers in a new light. They may be shopping elsewhere. This contextual data can reveal the most responsive time of day (which may vary by work versus personal email address). In b2b, you might see this contact left the company (which is an email chaining application that keeps track of old email addresses along with new ones). Lots of clues to explore, especially for people who can’t admit that customer just don’t want to receive your email.
Hansa is an email marketing agency; contact us, we'd be delighted to share more examples.
This blog also appeared on TheCustomer