According to the 60 Second Marketer, email marketing is powerful because it delivers your message to a subscriber’s inner sanctum—alongside party evites from friends and photos from recent family trips. Because of this, they argue, “You need to develop a relationship with the consumer as well. Otherwise you are just an intruder in a house [where] you don’t belong.” Check this list to see if you commit some of the most egregious mistakes you can make.
Here are a few tips for making subscribers think of you as a friend whose messages belong in their inboxes:
Be personable. A friend knows how to spell your name correctly; remembers your birthday; takes note of your likes and dislikes; and speaks to you in an informal, conversational voice. There’s no reason why your email program can’t exhibit all of these traits as well.
Be consistent. We all have that friend who alternates between bombarding us with messages and disappearing for weeks or months at a time. It gets old in a hurry. So be the friend who stays in touch consistently, and never comes on too strong.
Be concise. “You don’t want to be that friend who takes 20 minutes to tell a 2-minute story.”
Be sensitive. Friends recognize when “now” isn’t a good time to talk—and it’s important to remember that when timing your email campaigns. Mornings might be an ideal time to catch a stay-at-home mother; Friday evening, conversely, might be a terrible time to reach a B2B customer who keeps a regular office schedule.
The Po!nt: Be a pal. Thinking of your subscribers as your friends is an effective way to gauge the appropriateness of your email program’s different initiatives—and not wear out your welcome.