What image pops to mind when you think of your “to do” list?
Your boss or clients impatiently tapping their feet waiting for you to get to them?
A drill sergeant barking orders throughout the day?
A kind and gentle personal assistant giving you those welcome reminders of what’s up next?
An old friend you haven’t seen in awhile inviting you to get back on track?
To do lists are wonderful and evil. Helpful and a curse.
When it comes to marketing, sometimes they help us focus. But sometimes they make us rush to get things done. To cut corners so we can scratch at least one thing off the list.
I recently received this email from someone in the mortgage business. It’s a good example of someone scratching “send email marketing” off their list.
The subject line read “Jobs and Rates”.
I keep getting this email and wonder how I wound up on this list in the first place. Then I ponder, what are “Jobs and Rates”.
Then as I look at the newsletter itself, it’s a giant wall of text.
I delete each one and finally remember to unsubscribe.
But the sender and their boss are patting themselves on the back for having sent out their email newsletter once a week. Great job. LOL.
I see this sort of thing everywhere. People are busy. We’ve all got so many things to do…
What could the nice folks at Franklin American done a little differently if they weren’t in such a rush? Here are a few ideas:
- Send me an email and ask me what sort of information I’d like to receive. Chances are they have a lot of different types of customers. Borrowers. Referral partners. Other lenders. Why not send me a different email more tailored to my interests since I have no idea what “jobs and rates” are.
- Give me some insight or tell me why I should care. Leading with a headline like “Jobs and Rates” tells me nothing. In fact, it makes me feel as though I should know what it is even though I don’t. If there is compelling information or data in here, summarize that for me in the subject line and the email content.
- Tell me a story. Instead of sending me impersonal data each week, why not tell me a story about someone like me. Did another person fix some problem using their service that I might learn from? It seems like ANYTHING might be more interesting than “Jobs and Rates”.
- Give my inbox a break. The first paragraph of this email mentions twice that more interesting or compelling information is coming out in a few weeks. Instead of wasting my time and yours now, why not email me then using the bullet points above?
Making a mess out of a valuable tool like email marketing might do more harm than good. Customers you fought hard to get opt out. They ignore future communications from you. They might even snicker when they see your name in their inbox or social media feeds.
None of that is good for business.
Take the time to truly understand who is on your email list and why they’ve signed up.
Think about how you can communicate something of value to them. Something that deepens your relationship. Something that makes their lives just a little bit better.
If you can’t think of something personal or valuable, take a half day off of work and give it some thought.
But don’t just send them an email so you can scratch that off your list.
Email marketing is just a piece of the digital marketing pie. Do you need help organizing your digital tasks and creating an actionable plan to achieve your goals? Contact us today to get started!
