The Ruination of E-Mail Marketing
It seems these days marketers are walking around scratching their heads wondering why no one ever responses to their e-mail marketing… And why, oh why, are click-through rates are so low… Really, it’s amazing this hasn’t been figured it out yet. Let me shine some light on it…
You. Are. SPAMMING. People.
And yes, while CAN-SPAM (below) doesn’t require opt-ins (isn’t that nice of the lawmakers?!), here’s the thing—regardless of what you think as a marketer—when your e-mail shows up and the person on the receiving end knows that they never gave you their e-mail address or they aren’t interested in what you have to say…they consider it spam. Even if they are your network friend, prospect, vendor, etc. It’s just rude to pop up in someone’s inbox unannounced.
CAN-SPAM Requirements for Commercial E-Mailers:
- NO false or misleading header information
- NO deceptive subject lines
- There MUST be an opt-out method provided
- It MUST be identified as an advertisement & provide a valid physical postal address
Yes, yes, I can hear it now… “I am not spamming people! My e-mail marketing isn’t about Viagra!” Hmmm, let me help you see it from the receiver’s perspective.
You’re Most Likely a Spammer if you…
- Add someone to the e-mail list just because they download something from your website
- Add someone to the e-mail list just they stopped by a virtual tradeshow or event
- Add someone to the e-mail list because sales (or anyone else) tells you to
- Add someone to the e-mail list just because they “friend” you on a social network
- Keep e-mailing someone even when they ask to be removed from your e-mail list
- Send bulk e-mail from your desktop instead of using a professional e-mail marketing application, tool, or program (that just clogs the spam filter)
- Regurgitate copy from your collateral, website or white papers
- Add someone just because you assume you have something of interest to say
- E-mail people who aren’t in your target audience
If you still say that you are within CAN-SPAM regulations to do all of the above things, you’d probably be correct…but guess what, to people who don’t expect these types of e-mails you are indeed spamming them. Why? Because you are cluttering up their e-mail and now they need to talk time out of their busy day to “unsubscribe” and hope you listen. And above all else you are annoying…like ants at a picnic.
The 7 Deadly Sins of E-mail Marketing
Sin #1: Failing to test the design of the e-mail in multiple e-mail clients
Sin #2: Failing to spam-check the e-mail copy before sending
Sin #3: Putting hurdles in the way of unsubscribing
Sin #4: Neglecting to maintain the list’s invalid addresses
Sin #5: Becoming complacent
Sin #6: Sending content that isn’t relevant to what the user signed up for
Sin #7: Most importantly, e-mailing a user without their permission
[The exception: The one-off e-mail asking someone to join your list.]
Social Media & E-Mail Marketing: Turning the boat around
We live in a world where people are tired of companies shoving promotional messages down their throats. We talk about this constantly in the social media sphere. The need for conversation is becoming more and more important in business.
E-mail marketing is possible to do it correctly (Amazon.com, how I love thee!). Companies just need to consider it from the perspective of the receiver. How about marketers do these simple things first on their websites, blogs, etc. first:
- Develop great content
- Provide information that helps people (and expect nothing in return)
Then, and only then…
- Give people the option to come to you (and sign up for your e-mails)
And how about…
- Giving people the ability to select information based on their preferences (ingenious, right?!)
I think we have reached the point where e-mail marketing is ruined. And if marketers want to continue doing it, they need to earn the right to find a home in someone’s inbox. There is no other way to get it right.
This is nothing new, I get that. And it seems absolutely crazy to me to even have a discussion about bad e-mail marketing after all these years. But I still receive at least 10 e-mails a day that I haven’t asked for from people I do and don’t know. Whether it’s from a social network (Ning users, you are the great offenders!!) or from a networked offline professional or from someone who found my e-mail address…and I am tired of it.
Your thoughts? Am I off base here? Is e-mail marketing completely ruined or can it be turned around? Does social media play a part in fixing e-mail marketing? What suggestions would you provide to marketers considering e-mail marketing?
Tags: 22 Responses to “The Ruination of E-Mail Marketing”
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Beth,
I understand your frustration – both from the standpoint of someone who receives a lot of unwanted e-mail and someone who relies on an e-mail marketing platform to communicate with customers (in a non-sales way).
What’s interesting is that my e-mail inbox has become ALMOST like my snail mailbox – exclusively for junk mail and direct marketing. Almost none of my friends or associates actually e-mail me anymore. They send be LinkedIn or Facebook messages or DM me on Twitter.
The one suggestion I would make to e-mail marketers is that the FIRST line of ANY e-mail newsletter that goes out should say: “Viewing this on a mobile device? Click here” and then link to a mobile-friendly version of the content. I get most of my e-mail on my Blackberry nowadays and hate opening a message to lines and lines of HTML code. I’m likely to just delete it on the spot and never bother to revisit it once I get back to my computer.
@amymengel
amymengel’s last blog post..Tight on resources? Deputize your brand’s fans
The two most important things here are: relevancy and opt-in. Throwing a wide net often enough will catch you some fish, but a what cost? How much of the pond’s ecosystem are you destroying by doing so? How many of the fish are you scaring away, possibly forever?
I have faith that our long e-mail nightmare will soon be over. Key indicators in semantic web developments tell me so. The next phase after the semantic web is the so-called intelligent web that will be able to assess and predict based on semantic information. There is a brilliant little tool that Google has created called Google Sets. You input a couple of items in a set and Google predicts more for you. Try it with your favorite movies. I did. It’s eerie how well I liked the others suggested, and I’m a picky movie lover. http://labs.google.com/sets
If information can be input based on preferences, location, etc- basically all the key info that makes you originally you- then I have faith that our email will become more robust with features as well as more intuitive, just as the web is starting to. If I can see the clear future we all can. What you focus on will eventually come into focus in your life. You’re a human camera. Keep focusing. When enough people do it it comes faster.
http://twitter.com/db
Damien Basile’s last blog post..Guide: A Brand Strategy Checklist
Beth,
I like your article on ruination of email marketing.
That makes sense to me as a businessman and not a techie.
Great Post:)
From a viewer’s perspective I have to say you’re right. I get tons of spam, most of which is filtered, and some of which is not. It’s a waste of time IMO to have e-mail w/o a spam filter.
Clinton Skakun’s last blog post..The *unfollow* factors!
GREAT article, Beth. It really makes us “rethink” how we define SPAM. I can honestly say I look at my company’s efforts and can’t help but see room for improvement.
What’s your take on social media spamming? I seem more and more companies flock to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc, hoping for some cheap marketing salvation. Not sure it lies there…
So glad you wrote this, Beth. I just recently had a situation with a ’spammer’. I spoke at a local tech Meetup and of course, handed out business cards to attendees and people I talked with. That next day, I received not one but TWO emails from a real estate agent that was from the meetup and felt the need to add my email to his newsletter. The email said it was a ‘token of his appreciation’. All this after a talk on Twitter and a point on building relationships before pimping your own stuff (ironic).
Anyway, it struck a cord with me that people still don’t respect the use of people’s email addresses, especially after acquiring it from a networking setting.
I don’t think its a lost cause (see how MarketingProfs utilizes their emails). They tie in value with content and resources they offer to its members, which helps build the relationship between the two.
Clearly defining what your intentions are and allowing your community to choose what and when they want it, before bombarding their inbox, will only help their efforts. But all goes to waste if you really don’t have anything of value to share, right?
Sonny Gill’s last blog post..Too Much Transparency or Lack of Common Sense?
Interesting post. Curious about how you think SM changes the way individual sales people do prospecting?
Mark Emery’s last blog post..Twittoire Experiment
I will recommend using http://ePostMailer.com for all permission based e-mail marketing needs. Its the best free desktop email marketing software I have used so far.
All I can say is PREACH IT, SISTER!
Leigh Durst’s last blog post..The Social Media Engagement Continuum – What Makes an Expert?
I guess just having an email account (or phone, or TV, or mailbox, or Twitter account, or whatever else) is considered an implied opt-in for any interruption that shows up. And it’s left up to the marketer to either respect their audience or disrespect them.
To marketers considering e-mail marketing, I would suggest that they either use an opt-in or that they stay out of the online market. They can do quick and heavy duty damage to their reputations in a social media world that makes its own unwritten rules. And the word spreads fast and far.
I’m quite happy receiving emails from those where I’ve opted-in, so I don’t think it’s ruined in that regard. I don’t opt-out of anything that I never opted-in to in the first place. Often that is just a ploy to get a “live” email and then the spam really starts. Those I report as spam.
It would be nice if email servers/clients gave us the option of bouncing emails back. I used to do that with something called MailWasher. I wonder if that’s still around. Ok, now I’m rambling…
Thank you so much for this VERY timely article! I just had a meeting with several of our independent contractors regarding this topic.
I will be directing them all here if they are still confused about the topic.
Thanks again!
I have to say this is a very quality article, I bookmarked it on Delicious for you. These are great guidelines for any and all of my clients developing an email marketing program.
Portland Web Designer – Charles M.’s last blog post..The Web at its Core: Content
I think this is a great article, probably because I agree.
We still use some email marketing, mainly because it is very low cost (via Constant Contact) and does drive a certain amount of traffic the landing pages we set up. Our great team also makes sure the messages are well put together and useful for the recipient.
I do believe that people on the whole are pretty sick of getting so much crap in their inbox everyday so email marketing is tending to become less effective over time.
David’s last blog post..Blog Updates
@AmyMengel, mobile is another huge consideration when it comes to e-mail marketing. It’s annoying enough to get spam, but then to get it on my BlackBerry or iPhone too? Now that’s two places I need to delete it. But, if it’s e-mail I do want (like from Amazon or MarketingProfs), then yep, it would be great to have a mobile-friendly version.
@DamienBasile, thanks for the Google, tip…very cool! Amazon has been sending e-mails based on preferences for years…they are, in my opinion, geniuses when it comes to e-mail marketing. I seriously await their e-mails because I don’t want to miss the latest marketing or historical fiction (my other fav topic) books that are available or available for pre-sale.
For companies to do e-mails based on preferences, they will need to spend a lot of time and money on databases/IT. But I fear that it will be easier to just buy a list and cast a wide net like you said. And that makes me one scared fish!
@Harrison, @Molly, @Charles, glad you liked it!
@ClintonSkakun, even with a spam filter I am still inundated…as I am sure most folks are!
@BryanJennewein, Thanks! Part of the point was to let companies know that just because they aren’t sending e-mails on some drug doesn’t mean that it isn’t spam. As marketers, we really need to look at everything from the receiver’s perspective.
Social media spamming is here already! Folks are already targeting people on Twitter via keywords. But with social media, the community will speak and unfollow.
@SonnyGill, Ugh. Nothing drives me more crazy then people who get a business card and think it’s a right to spam. And you’re right, e-mail marketing isn’t a lost cause, there are a lot of examples of people who get it right (Amazon, MarketingProfs, etc.)
I loved what you said here, so let’s repeat it for people: “Clearly defining what your intentions are and allowing your community to choose what and when they want it, before bombarding their inbox, will only help your efforts…”
@MarkEmery, I’ve never been one to think that cold calling or cold e-mailing works from a sales perspective. I think the best sales people have always known that making the sale is about the relationship & trust. Social media just moves that relationship from offline (phone calls, lunches, golf outings) to online. So from a prospecting perspective, I’d say that if a sales person is using social media just to find people prospect…it’s not going to work. Sales using social media needs to be indirect…building up relationships and trust before trying to make a sale.
@James, thanks for the blog spam.
@LeighDurst, thanks for the support…looks you have me trading in my soapbox for a pulpit. LOL!
@DebMallett, great point. I wonder how many marketers will lose respect on behalf of their companies by continuing to spam and how many companies don’t even realize that it’s even happening.
@David, good/useful content is key.
I totally agree. As a graphic artist who is told by ” the powers that be” to break each and every of the seven sins i get rarely any returns. ( request for cancellation doesn’t count ) my problem is making the first connections. Yes it would be in a sense cold calling but it can not be all sales pitch. ( i wish my bosses would understand this ) My old employer pulled in more new customers then where I am now simply because of word of mouth and the fact that you can talk to these people face to face. So this isn’t just a social marketing thing at all, this is a how to conduct yourself as a business thing. So where does this leave me? The lonely guy getting the whipped cracked on ( as it were ) to sell sell sell when all I have is a list of e-mail addresses without names? What do you do? disguise your ad as a newsletter and call it marketing? All I know is that customer relations was a lot easier when they would walk into my office. I’m 500 times better face to face then through the computer. So I would say if you see someone doing it wrong, don’t jump to hate. Let us know all we are trying to do is get a slice of the pie. Any suggestions for us ??
[...] which has my email address on it. Now, I could get into the e-mail etiquette side of things but Beth Harte covered that pretty well earlier this [...]
I really hate how some people believe its ok to still spam e-mail me aslong as its not viagra or a bot doing this, Spam comes in many shapes and forms and great points your brought up here!
JustinSMV’s last blog post..Being Productive In Social Media and Using Time Wisely
Beth, thank you for a thoroughly considered and comprehensive post. I’ve never been directly involved with email marketing (planning, executing, measuring), but have worked alongside others who did and of course, been on the receiving end both as a general consumer and trade consumer. I seem to consistently be thwarted from accessing “free” reports and information that indeed require sign up in order to reach. That’s followed inevitably by an email and often a sales call. I think it’s disingenuous tactic to acquire contact info under the guise of gratis content–and usually that content isn’t high-quality, anyway. So I’m becoming more skeptical and frankly deleting items from my In box without even reading (which goes against my nature!) because I’m overburdened with messages I didn’t explicitly ask for. Why do these companies persist in their tactics if presumably others feel and behave as I do? Argh.
Heather Rast’s last blog post..I Win/You Win: Finding Balance In Business Relationships
[...] Just using these mediums to spread a tired, one-directional message won’t get you anywhere (see Beth Harte’s blog post about why email marketing doesn’t work) but instead you must employ these tools to build [...]
There will always be a segment of the [digital] marketing community using mass mailings simply for the numbers – because it works.
I use the term “digital”, but you can fill in the blank with any type of delivery method you want to. The concept is the same. If you’re banking on 0.1% success, and your campaign is targeting 1000 new customers, the mass mailer’s work is clear. And an email box is no more sacrosanct than the mailbox at the end of my driveway.
So I guess it really depends on what you’re selling. AND what you’re buying.
I don’t mind being spammed via snail mail by my local grocery stores and pharmacies, mattress retailers and brake specialists because while I frequently trash [delete] their stuff, when the planets align and I finally have a need, I know all I have to do is wait a week, and I’ll have all the best deals delivered right to my mailbox.
@OrangeTiki, thanks for an inside view! And trust me, my friend, I’ve been in your shoes. Not jumping to hate here… in fact, I think e-mail marketing can be very successful. The key is to add value. I’d venture a guess that companies who ‘crack the whip’ aren’t really looking for long-term customer sustainability anyway…they are just looking for short-term leads to fill the sales pipeline. Advice…if you know you are in a marketing position where the company just doesn’t get the value of respecting a potential prospect or customer and their time…move on or try to help fix the problem with internal education.
@HeatherRast, ah, the old bait tactic. I have been an advocate for years to give away collateral, white papers, etc. If the content provides value, the person on the other end will eventually pick up the phone and want to learn more. The process you described just results in unqualified leads (if any, most people just walk away) from the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. (For those not getting Mickey & Donald…end users aren’t stupid. They know you are going to call or e-mail the minute you get their real name, phone number and e-mail…so they outsmart you with fake information.)
@DonLafferty, I don’t think that mass e-mail marketing works. That said, targeted, opt-in e-mails to the masses does…there’s a difference. Amazon, MarketingProfs, Wine Library (and I am sure there are a bunch more!) have been totally effective with their efforts.
As for direct mail, I’d really wish all those credit card offers would stop. They are annoying and I can only imagine how much budget is wasted…not to mention trees.
Thank you for this post Beth!
I’m going to respond to every email I get that falls into this category with a link to this post. People need to start understanding how their “tactics” in both email and other SM platforms, are percieved by the individual (and that most of the SM savvy folks can already see right through it–like sending out a newsletter with the subscriber’s name in the body of the email as though it were personalized. We all know that was a program and it’s insulting to feign a relationship and understanding of a connection/discussion that wasn’t there).
Dawn’s last blog post..I want to be an Amazon Princess…