Despite your best efforts, you keep seeing flatlined open or click-through rates, an unsubscribe mass exodus, and—worst of all—emails tagged to funnel directly to your
customers’ spam folders (yikes). These are all sure signs that your email campaigns have stopped resonating with your audience and are, instead, starting to annoy them. Although the frequency of interaction can build loyalty and brand advocacy, there is such a thing as being too attentive.
Here are a few reasons your customers have lost interest, and what you can do to fix
this
- “It’s like you don’t even know me.”
The most integral part to any strategy is to define and identify exactly who it is
you’re trying to reach, what kinds of content they love, and when/where/how is the best
time to capture their attention and deliver value. If you haven’t, then you have already
made your first mistake. 60% of marketers admit that their biggest barrier to effective
email marketing is the quality of their email database, it’s likely that many are skipping
or skimping on this critical step. Unfortunately, your customers will notice immediately if
you haven’t taken the time to do this; receiving content that’s canned or is irrelevant is
an obvious indication of just how much you don’t care about their individual experiences
—and they’ll show their displeasure by ending the relationship.
- Map your customer’s journey by defining all the important points along your sales
funnel that will help you pick out the nuances and influences that drive your
customer’s decision-making, this, in turn, will help you develop the most
effective messaging and timing. And since it’s likely that your lists of customers (both
existing and potential) aren’t presorted by where they are in the sales cycle, this will
help you to begin the next most important process… - Segmenting your lists. While your customers might all be interested in your product or
service, that’s likely where their similarities end; your messaging, strategy, and cadence
needs to be aligned to where your customers are along their journey so that every
interaction with you is relevant and valuable to each of them. Test. Retest. Optimize.
Repeat. Defining and identifying your customer’s journey is essential for establishing a
solid foundation to strategize campaigns, but sometimes no matter how much you learn,
you just can’t predict what customers will engage with most. T. Create different versions
of subject lines and test them against each other; create one long and one short email
newsletter and see which resonates the best. Testing will help you focus your strategies
on what you know works best for your target audience, so you can optimize your
campaigns and deliver higher quality content at every touchpoint.
- “I just need some space.”
Bombarding your customers is just as bad as forgetting about them.
Unfortunately, getting the cadence right can be tricky. According
to MarketingSherpa research, 86% of U.S. adults would like to receive promo emails at
least monthly, but 15% would like to receive promotional emails every day.
- * Start with best practices. You’ll be well-served to tap into the wisdom and tactics of
those who’ve blazed the trail before you, especially if you have no idea where to
begin. Look into case studies, research, and insight from industry experts
like Hubspot and Buffer. Find out what’s tried and true so you have a foundation for
developing your own strategies. - Define a schedule (and stick with it). When customers sign up to receive email news
and updates about your brand, use that initial welcome email (you’ve created one of
those, right?) to tell them just what they’ll be receiving and how often. If customers
know what they’re getting from the outset, they’ll not only expect to see you in their
inboxes on a regular basis, they’ll also be less likely to feel smothered or exploited by
your agreed-upon cadence. You can also use your welcome email to ask them
specifically about their contact preferences, and save yourself from guesswork. - Don’t rely solely on automation. Email marketing automation is an incredible tool that
helps marketers automate many of the tedious processes involved with identifying and
nurturing sales leads. That said, it’s not like a Crock-Pot—you can’t just set it and
forget it.Make sure you’re consistently using them to monitor the ongoing
effectiveness of your campaigns. And be prepared to make quick adjustments to
messaging or email frequency as soon as click rates drop—something you can’t do by
depending on automation alone. - Suggest a break rather than a breakup. According to a recent BlueHornet survey,
47.1% of customers would rather “opt-down” and receive fewer emails than
unsubscribe. Not only will giving your customers a similar option help keep them
engaged by allowing them to customize their interaction with your brand, it will also
help you further refine the optimal frequency for your specific audience.
- “The thrill is gone.”
If the first reason for customers hitting the unsubscribe button is frequency, the
second is almost always bad or irrelevant content. Remember: you’re vying for the
attention of a customer who may be accustomed to receiving more promotional emails a
month than personal emails (nearly 54% of their total monthly emails received!)—you
better make sure that your emails are the ones they open.
- Get personal. Customers don’t want to just buy from companies, they want to connect
with the people and personalities behind the brands—and they expect the same sort
of consideration.Make a killer first impression. The truth is, it won’t matter how
amazing and lovingly crafted your content is if nobody will open your email to see it.
Since your subject line is typically the first thing customers see (and judge), you’ll
need to be able to win them over quickly—preferably in 50 characters or less. It’s also
important to be straightforward and not mislead your audience, you may just lose their
trust for good. - Optimize for mobile. More than 67% of consumers now use a smartphone to check
their email. Why is this important? Because of this: 42% of subscribers delete emails
that don’t display correctly on mobile phones. Again, it won’t matter how awesome your
content is if nobody will (or can) open your email to see it; if you’re not taking into
account where and when your customers might be accessing your emails, and
optimizing that content accordingly, you’re missing a vital component to your overall
email campaign success.
- “The thrill is gone.”
If the first reason for customers hitting the unsubscribe button is frequency, the
second is almost always bad or irrelevant content. Remember: you’re vying for the
attention of a customer who may be accustomed to receiving more promotional emails a
month than personal emails (nearly 54% of their total monthly emails received!)—you
better make sure that your emails are the ones they open.
- Get personal. Customers don’t want to just buy from companies, they want to connect
with the people and personalities behind the brands—and they expect the same sort
of consideration.Make a killer first impression. The truth is, it won’t matter how
amazing and lovingly crafted your content is if nobody will open your email to see it.
Since your subject line is typically the first thing customers see (and judge), you’ll
need to be able to win them over quickly—preferably in 50 characters or less. It’s also
important to be straightforward and not mislead your audience, you may just lose their
trust for good. - Optimize for mobile. More than 67% of consumers now use a smartphone to check
their email. Why is this important? Because of this: 42% of subscribers delete emails
that don’t display correctly on mobile phones. Again, it won’t matter how awesome your
content is if nobody will (or can) open your email to see it; if you’re not taking into
account where and when your customers might be accessing your emails, and
optimizing that content accordingly, you’re missing a vital component to your overall
email campaign success.
Your customers want to stay connected through email. I. Staying in tune with your customers’ wants and needs, providing them with options, and customizing their experience whenever possible are all things that will help maximize their delight and reinforce their long-term devotion to your brand.
