We’ve mentioned how to gain subscribers to your email marketing lists and you will, no doubt, be less than pleased to discover that it is only half the battle, and the easier one. Once you’ve got them, you need stratagems aimed at ensuring they stay.
In normal circumstances it is better to highlight worthwhile procedures rather than pointing out common errors, but today I received a marketing email offering me all but 10% off the price of an item I had viewed on the company’s website. Nothing wrong in that, you might think. However, I’d ordered the item online two days previously at the full price. I’m still awaiting delivery.
It shows a lack of care and poor professionalism. Autoreplies are an excellent time and cost saving procedure, but only if you set them up correctly. I’ve emailed the company, pointing out their error and even if I am sent the price difference as a coupon, I’ll still be irritated.
If you don’t want your email marketing list to haemorrhage subscribers, ensure they feel special. Sending them offers for products without thought for who they are is as bad as telling them they are but a number.
A way of showing subscribers you want to do your best for them is to give them something. This doesn’t have to be an expensive item for free, or a reduction in price to below cost level. We want to make a profit. Just work out what you have that they might find valuable.
I subscribe to a marketing list which allows me, as a ‘gold’ customer, access to what I can only describe as a library. It contains hundreds of megabytes of information, such as how-to articles and explanations of processes, all in a searchable database. Anyone with an interest in the products can be lost for hours; believe me.
Every couple of months or so, at the bottom on a marketing email, directly underneath a CTA, will be a link to new entries in the database, together with a brief description of contents. These are not overly detailed and do little more than tempt the palate. There can be few who don’t click through, opening a new window, so leaving the email still open at the CTA.
I’ve often wondered why the company doesn’t produce an e-newsletter. I would assume that their method ensures marketing emails are read below the fold, and the final CTA is noticed. Further, the cost saving must be significant. The company’s freebies are similar to what is often included in an e-newsletter.
By offering the library only to those who’ve bought one or two items ensures that they are not available to all and sundry. Regular customers are aware they are being treated as special as when they are allowed access, the fact that they are ‘loyal customers’ is mentioned a couple of times.
Most importantly, it gives a massive incentive for subscribers to remain. They will know that if they click the unsubscribe button on the bottom of a marketing email, they will be unable to source the resource.
