Sucky email is annoying

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I order something, then get added to an email loop that I never signed up for. For example, I ordered tickets for JFK from the Fort Worth Opera, and in the last month or two, I’ve received sales promotions from them. Delete.

They don’t encourage me to order anything more. Forget for one minute that I don’t even live there, but I didn’t ask for them to invade my mailbox.

I have to sort through the email I get to find the ones that are important and I don’t want to read a bunch of junk. (For the record, snail mail advertising gives me the same feelings.)

My favorite promotional emails are from…

Don’t scream your message. That being said, there are promotional emails which I do get and read. Think Geek is one of my favorites. I like their email because it introduces me to a number of products that I wouldn’t necessarily see. It’s promotional without screaming at me “buy from me.”

It doesn’t come so often that I just throw it out. One of my favorite apparel stores will send me two emails a day, “Hurry, last chance!” and I just trash them. From experience, I know that it won’t be my last chance for anything. They’ll have another sale, and they won’t run out of clothes. Think Geek sends maybe two a week, which I think is one too many, but I can live with it.

So how can you make me enjoy YOUR emails?

The most engaging emails I’ve found are those which provide information and inspiration about the product or service. Think about television advertising. Other than for the Super Bowl, do consumers really tune in for the commercials? No. It’s for entertainment or information. And yet, consumers do respond to advertising.

On television, there are roughly nine minutes of ads in every 30 minutes of programming. The 70 percent of entertainment lets the 30 percent of ads work. If you send a newsletter, it needs to engage your customer.

Don’t just tell me what you sell. Give me a reason to open your email and take my time to read your ad.

I’d actually probably read an email from the Fort Worth Opera if it included history or information about their programs instead of just asking me to donate or pony up for tickets all the time.

Ask yourself what your email newsletter is doing for you.

#EmailMarketing