Recently, I talked about the importance of seeing your email list as a collection of people instead of a collection of email addresses.
All this starts at the very beginning of the email relationships, when someone subscribes to your list. However, it’s an ongoing effort.
Some tips.
Make new subscribers feel safe and welcome
Clearly state your privacy policy and your unsubscribe policy when someone “gives” you his email address.
Clearly explain him what he can expect when subscribing to your email list (including a link to an example or to the archives with your previous emailings). Send an email confirming the registration.
Welcome new subscribers and, if you can, give them something that will make them feel truly welcome and valued.
Building relationships is about trust, interaction, feedback and personality
Don’t see subscribers as just email addresses. They are real people. A single email can make or break a valuable customer relationship. So why are 89 % of today’s marketers still sending low-value, one-off broadcast email campaigns?
It’s wiser to plan strategically and execute high-value individualized life cycle marketing programs. Engaging your audiences in more relevant and personal communications increases net profits by an average of 18 times more than broadcast mailings. Even more important, relevance is of major influence in your email deliverability.
Email marketers should interact with their subscribers.
Ask them what communication channels they prefer, what frequencies, etc. Invite them to comment on your marketing efforts, occasionally reward them and put them in the spotlight.
Ask and track what subscribers think and need.
Organize a poll now and then to find out if your recipients are happy with your emails. They will feel valued because you ask their opinion. Don’t only ask them what they think about the emails they receive but also their opinion about your company.
Ask them if they still want to receive your emails or if they prefer another form of communication. Furthermore, use all the data that you have. If you have a clean list but a low percentage of people opening your emailings or clicking a link in them, you have a problem.
In order to better understand your subscribers needs, you can analyze your transactional data (e.g. ecommerce sales), preference data (obtained through surveys) and behavioral data (e.g. clicks in an email).
Analysis will give you a pretty good understanding about what interests and drives email newsletter readers.
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