Special Offers In Email Marketing: How to Avoid Subscriber Overload and Poor ROI
Same old. Same old. Same old.
That’s what some subscribers see in their email inboxes on a daily basis. How about the people on your list? Are your subscribers suffering from the dreaded disease we call Special Offer Overload?
They might be if that’s all they get from you.
If your email marketing program is based on sending out special offers, you’re not alone. That’s a typical focus because the goal of the email marketing program is ROI, after all.
However, there’s much to be said for not selling, but telling instead…telling stories, that is. Stories avoid the same old, same old syndrome, and give people a reason to look forward to receiving your emails.
Stories engage. Stories compel. Stories entertain. And in their own, indirect way, stories sell. A story doesn’t have to be of the fairy tale kind, with three bears and bowls of porridge. A story can be anything that isn’t directly selling. Think of this kind of content as articles you might read in a magazine, or case studies, or testimonials even. Stories can be employee profiles, company history or something totally unrelated to your business, like a holiday-themed piece. You might be surprised what kinds of content engage people once you move away from the special offer overload approach.
You’re still selling, but in an indirect way. You’re creating content people look forward to receiving. You’re creating good feelings about your company and brand. You are creating warm fuzzies and strengthening their loyalty to you, perhaps before they are even a buying customer.
You might not think your team is afflicted with Special Offer Overload. However, it’s a matter of perception. You might consider each message sent to be uniquely different, but it’s the subscriber’s perception that matters. If one special offer looks like the next to them, it doesn’t matter how different they are in your eyes.
If you’re not interested in engaging your subscribers by curing your team of Special Offer Overload syndrome, think about the effect on your email deliverability rate if the same old, same old continues. People will tune you out, ignoring your email messages, thereby indirectly telling their ISPs that your email is not email they want. Then what? Then the ISP makes sure they won’t get any from you by blocking you.
Maybe a cure for Special Offer Overload is in order after all?
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