One of many problems with email marketing is deliverablity – getting your emails into inboxes. Sure, once they’re there then we start to worry about open rates and click rates, but before that we need to get the emails in there right? Companies have been experimenting with different ways to clean their data to ensure high deliverability rates.

One-off data cleansing emails is bar far the most common way to clean your data. There are other techniques: including your registered email address in the footer of the email to see or the company sends an email to its list with a unique account access links which enable the subscribers to enter their account and update their details. Most subscribers are lazy and I suspect would rather sign up with a new email address than update their old email.

IAB are smart! (I’m sure this isn’t ground-breaking)

They sent their IAB Smartbrief newsletter to me today, but this time when I tried to access a story I was re-directed to a ‘Update your details’ page first – ‘Update details now’ or ‘Update later’ buttons – included a brief explanation why I was being sent here. With these two options I can update my details without having to think about it or update my details later if incorrect (and not being pushy, which I like).

The update your details form includes further data options over and above email address, which might just compel me to provide more detail about me to IAB who can then further target the emails I receive.

They naturally then have cleaner data which improves their deliverability.

“Sorry to see you go.
Thank you for your loyalty and staying with us. We are sorry to see you go and hope you might come back some time soon.
To help us improve our service please let us know if you have any comments as we’d love to hear them. Once again thank you!”

Presenting a simple message to a leaver is such a simple thing to do and yet so many email marketers fail to follow some basic ‘rules’. When a subscriber leaves (unsubscribes) from your mailing list be human and thank them for their support. Then ask them if there was something that contributed to them leaving? I often suggest including a simple leaving poll/survey which only takes the ex-subscriber a second to complete. You could include:

1. too many emails
2. email information no longer relevant
3. just because.

With feedback you’re able to gain a better understanding why subscribers leave your service.

After I unsubscribed (because I found the email content no longer useful) I noticed a couple of elements that’s worth mentioning, there’s:

• a clearly marked unsubscribe call-to-action in the footer of the email,
• a one click to unsubscribe action including my email address and a clearly labeled ‘Unsubscribe‘ button close to it,
• a ‘Sorry to see you leave‘ reflector message after I clicked the button, and
• I received a follow up/confirm email immediately after, which importantly includes a ‘Sorry for leaving‘ messaged as well as a mechanism to re-subscribe again at some point should I wish to.

A clear example of best practice at the un-subscription process in email marketing.

Confirmation emails should be sent out immediately after signing up. This is the time when it’s highly likely the recipient is still in a very receptive state of mind toward you and your company (and what you have to offer of course).

So why do so many companies still waste this excellent opportunity to upsell, cross-sell or further cement customer relationships? Perhaps the person responsible (usually a marketing person) feels the new recipient won’t be bothered? Or, perhaps it’s because it’s a customer services thing and marketing aren’t involved? Either way marketers need to be heavily involved as everything that touches the customer should reflect your brand and create a selling opportunity… even more so in these tough times.

The advantages of confirmation emails:

1. Upsell and Cross-Sell opportunities. The lesson here is to scrutinise your confirmation email messages to make sure they reinforce why your customer signed up and they up- and cross-sell your offerings.

2. Improve deliverability. An opportunity to invite the new recipient to add your sender email address to their safe senders list so the email never finds its way to the junk folder

3. Brand and identity. It gives you, the marketer, an opportunity to give your newsletter some organic feel – a personality that feels real right from the start. This also gives you a great first impression and hopefully reduce the likelihood of the recipient unsubscribing later on.

4. Professionalism. Confirmation/welcome emails instals confidence in your email system and states your professionalism.

5. Contact. Use a welcome email to include all the ways the recipient can contact you. It should not only include editorial contact, but marketing and sales too.

6. Protection. Should the need ever arise you can protect yourself. By sending the recipient a confirmation email you’re effectively issuing them a receipt. In any event you need proof of request your server log files will have a record of that email that was sent.

Remember, whilst the confirmation (welcome) email is important don’t under estimate the importance of the unsubscribe (goodbye) email either. Use this opportunity to ask why they left the mailing list. So make sure you have a link to a survey to collect this valuable information along with a pleasant parting message. The main idea is to show that you are genuinely sorry to see them leave.
Imagine you could place a value (and you should place a value) on each subscriber that left your list? If you were to start counting how much money you would  lose you might start paying more attention?