Do You Know Your Email Subscribers’ Preferences?
One of the main reasons subscribers stop opening emails and unsubscribe from lists is because the content they’re receiving isn’t matched to their preferences. You might be sending them messages on subjects that don’t interest them, or you could just be emailing them more often than they prefer.
That’s why it’s so important that you get to know the preferences of your email subscribers. When you know what they want and act upon it, you can increase open rates, boost response rates, and run a more profitable email marketing campaign.
Many savvy companies have started sending welcome messages to new subscribers with links to a subscriber preferences form. The subscriber can then indicate his or her preferences on a range of different factors, and the marketer can adjust communication accordingly.
If you’re going to implement a subscriber’s preferences tool in your campaign, make sure it includes the following:
- Frequency of communication—You don’t want to annoy your subscribers by emailing them too often. The easiest way to avoid this is to ask your subscribers to indicate how often they’d like to hear from you. Then, once the subscriber indicates their preferred frequency of communication, make sure you honor that request.
- Subject matter—Ask your subscribers what type of content they’re interested in receiving. Special deals? Company news? New product information? Events? Once you get this information, you can segment your email list according to your subscribers’ interests.
- Name—If you’re going to personalize your emails, you want to make sure you address your customers right. There’s nothing worse than calling them by the wrong name (e.g. calling someone “William” who always goes by “Bill”).
These are just a few of the things you should request when learning your subscribers’ preferences. Can you think of any others?