{"id":2811,"date":"2015-05-28T12:13:12","date_gmt":"2015-05-28T16:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/?p=2811"},"modified":"2020-04-19T11:20:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T15:20:46","slug":"all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/","title":{"rendered":"All You Really Need to Know About Meeting Subscriber Expectations You Learned in Middle School"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/subscriber-expectations.gif\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-2831 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/subscriber-expectations.gif\" alt=\"Subscriber Expectations\" width=\"700\" height=\"439\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Remember in school when your English teacher taught you to write a paper by following this simple formula?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tell them what you\u2019re going to say (intro).<\/li>\n<li>Say it (body).<\/li>\n<li>Tell them what you said (conclusion).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Something similar works for email marketing too, not for email content though, but as a guide for meeting your subscriber\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why subscriber expectations matter<br \/>\n<\/strong>I suspect there are more than five reasons to meet your subscriber\u2019s expectations, but I think these are the most important:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>They trusted you with something of value: their email address.<\/li>\n<li>Right from the start, you will either validate their decision to trust you or not, based on how well you follow through on what you promised when they subscribed.<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019re setting the stage for the rest of what you hope will be a long and fruitful relationship. Don\u2019t blow it. You worked hard to get that subscriber in the first place. Now you must work hard to keep them.<\/li>\n<li>Not meeting expectations will damage your brand\u2026<\/li>\n<li>\u2026and your deliverability.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Applying the English lesson to email marketing<br \/>\n<\/strong>Now let\u2019s go back to our English lessons from middle school and apply them to email marketing in a little more depth:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Tell them what you\u2019re going to say<\/em>, a.k.a. Set the expectations at sign up and in your welcome email. This means the signup page on your website spells out the reasons why they should subscribe. That\u2019s where you are setting the stage for everything that follows. Be accurate. Indicate how often you\u2019ll email and with what kind of content. Then remind them of these promises in the welcome email that confirms their subscription. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/2015\/05\/work-that-welcome-email\/%20\">You do use a welcome email, right?<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li><em>Say it<\/em>, a.k.a. Keep your promises in your email(s), both regarding content and frequency. Actions really do speak louder than words. If your subscription page promises one kind of content and\/or frequency, but the reality is something else, you\u2019re causing a disconnect that shows you\u2019re sloppy or a liar who isn\u2019t keeping any promises. And if you can\u2019t keep your word about how an email subscription will work, how trustworthy will you be when it comes to actually buying product from you?!<\/li>\n<li><em>Tell them what you said<\/em>, a.k.a. Remind them of your promises in your emails. With every email you send, say something short and sweet to remind them why they subscribed in the first place and to show you\u2019re meeting the expectations you laid out. Words like \u201cAs promised when you subscribed to our newsletter, here\u2019s your\u2026\u201d or \u201cHere\u2019s your weekly email from\u2026\u201d state facts and reiterate intent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The business of setting and meeting expectations works for much more than school essays and management memos. It can work to help you meet subscriber expectations too. And when you meet a subscriber\u2019s expectations, you keep them subscribed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Remember in school when your English teacher taught you to write a paper by following this simple formula? Tell them what you\u2019re going to say (intro). Say it (body). Tell them what you said (conclusion). Something similar works for email marketing too,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[44,16],"tags":[183],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>All You Need to Know About Meeting Subscriber Expectations...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Remember in school when you learned to write a paper by following this simple formula? It works f for meeting your subscriber\u2019s expectations too.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott Hardigree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Scott Hardigree\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e2710fe0f549a043c5d05bd2f06f8240\"},\"headline\":\"All You Really Need to Know About Meeting Subscriber Expectations You Learned in Middle School\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-28T16:13:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-19T15:20:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/\"},\"wordCount\":506,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"subscriber expectations\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Email Marketing\",\"Email Marketing Strategy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-meeting-subscriber-expectations-you-learned-in-middle-school\/\",\"name\":\"All You Need to Know About Meeting Subscriber Expectations...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.emailcritic.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-28T16:13:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-19T15:20:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Remember in school when you learned to write a paper by following this simple formula? 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