In a previous blog I wrote about beginning with a single step - some helpful strategies to increase your customer retention through acquisition and the early stages of your email marketing program. I reviewed the importance of providing a message preview, setting expectations of frequency, following an industry best practice of a double opt-in procedure and ensuring that they know how to add you to their “safe sender” list.
So, once you have performed the initial “handshake” you need to keep your messaging true to the subscription type. If a customer specifically signed up for your “special deals” communication, this should be the main content of your communication. Additional offers that are not pertinent to the specified communication type (or not expected by the consumer) could be the difference of the recipient either opting out of the message or simply marking your message as SPAM.
Often times, marketers try to put too much information in their emails. Overpopulating your messages with information that the consumer finds irrelevant or - gasp - unrequested, can be enough reason for your recipient to quickly become uninterested in future messages from your organization. You have to ask yourself, will this customer really care about the 6th offer that appears below the fold of your message? I’ve seen this happen many times before, your agreements with either internal departments or negotiated partners drive the content and sometimes the look/feel and frequency of your communications. Message relevancy to your customer should be driving the factor.
Simply ask yourself what is it the customer wants and is expecting to see in your messages. You might have to revisit your internal process. Ensure that the message is right for your customer.
