Patience is Required For Effective Email Marketing

The immediacy in email marketing is a blessing and a curse.  The blessing is how quickly and relatively easily communications can be delivered.  The curse is also how quickly and relatively easily communications can be delivered.  Why?  It means that there is always a temptation to “do it now!”  Any business or marketing panic can result in a poorly planned or ill advised communication due to the ease of sending.  This is the most common abuse of an email list.  Companies aren’t setting out to be evil spammers, they have an objective they aren’t reaching and think they can make up ground on the fly.  Don’t be tempted to send a last minute promotion.  It rarely works because the window for effectiveness has already passed.

So what kinds of panic get manifested in email marketing?  Here are some common ones.  We aren’t meeting projected sales, blast out an email promoting this product for a surge in sales.  We need to show more site traffic, let’s do a quick email update to get people to click through to the site.  We don’t have enough attendees for our event, let’s resend the invitation.  The list goes on but these all have the same root cause, panic at a goal not being met.  While missing a goal is often frustrating, impromptu email communications rarely net results and frequently cause animosity from subscribers.

If email marketing was as easy as blasting out a promotion and waiting for the dollars to roll in, everyone would be successful.  The fact is that it, like any marketing campaign, takes thought and finesse.  Thought and finesse doesn’t spawn from panic.  Mistakes do.  The best email campaigns let subscribers know what to expect and provide something they look forward to.  It’s a relationship being built.  When frantic self-centered messages arrive unannounced it damages the relationship.  Not only won’t the recipient take action on the impromptu offer but are less likely to respond in the future.

So rather than panic, learn.  Use the immediacy of email to your advantage.  You get almost instantaneous reports.  Analyse the data and use it to make the most logical offers.  Instead of rushing to get something out, tally what worked and what didn’t and blow the doors off your next goal.  Provide subscribers value while promoting your business and they will look forward to the communications and take advantage of your offers.  Email marketing is immediate, but that shouldn’t be turned into hasty.  Make a campaign, learn from mistakes, and gradually work toward goals.  A little patience goes a long way and ultimately is the best way to generate revenue from a campaign.