Remember when it become popular to put your picture on every single imaginable product? One of the aspects of this concept that many loved (and still love today) was that the choice was theirs. You could put whatever you wanted on that mug.
A theme that continues to ring true at every single email-related conference is the concept of choice. This trend held true during last week’s Email Evolution Conference. Allow recipients, customers, subscribers, etc to choose. With email marketing, choice comes in many flavors:
1. Opt-In Choice
During last week’s Email Evolution Conference Panel, “The Great Email Debate,” I engaged in a conversation with several of my colleagues around pre-checked opt-in boxes. There are pros and cons of each side, yet I took the stance that by leaving an email subscription box unchecked, you are giving the potential subscriber the choice of beginning an email relationship or keeping things status quo.
The opt-in choice is the most critical as it is your first impression you leave with your new audience. By providing the customer the ability to choose to hear from you via email, you are beginning to earn trust and setting some expectations. There is nothing worse than receiving an email days or weeks after you’ve visited a website only to “forget” that you had ever opted in. As we know, this “I don’t remember agreeing to this” thought process often leads to the Junk/Spam/Delete decision. Not a great second encounter.
2. Content Choice
You can collect content choice information during the subscription process (”Check all boxes for types of communication you’d like to receive from us”) or as a separate email campaign (”Share/Update your preferences for customized content”). Gathering this information on the front end is important in order to set proper expectations and begin delivering on them immediately. However, it is important to note that - much like taste - content preference can change. This is why it’s important to occasionally ask your subscribers to reconfirm/realign/re-select their content choices. This can be done with a simple survey or even an email campaign contest. Provide users incentive to update.
3. Frequency Choice
Similar to content choice, frequency preferences can be set up front or as a link in all emails.
During the initial subscription process, provide a radio button option for subscribers to choose how often they’d like to hear from you. Start simple:
(a) No more than 1x/day
(b) No more than 1x/week
(c) No more than 1x/month
Of course, your ESP must have a way to automate this process and/or your email marketing manager must have sufficient content and creative for various campaigns.
Allowing for frequency choice during the email conversation can be as easy as providing a few links: “Would you like to hear from us…more often, less often, never again? It is analogous to a sales person asking, “Would you like me to call you tomorrow, next week, or never again? It’s all about choice.
Ensure at least 25% of your emails this quarter are relevant, timely, targeted email to those who have asked for it. If you are already at 25%, try 50%. And so on. By the end of the year, that number should be 100%.
Stay tuned soon for the 4th in our series of 4 Email Marketing Goals of 2009.
Test
In case you missed them:
4 Email Marketing Goals for 2009
Goal #1: Relevant
Goal #2: Design
DJ Waldow
Director of Best Practices & Deliverability at Bronto
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