Kris Dougherty

Neil Berman recently used the analogy of a wedding to explain the importance of planning your marketing efforts, but it got me thinking how much email marketing is like a relationship.

Imagine your prospective recipient's first visit to your site as the first date.  Perhaps a friend set her up (through a personal recommendation or link from a trusted site), or she used a dating service (you showed up in a Google search).

You begin spending time together, getting to know one another (through browsing and analytics). One click leads to another, and before you know it, you're popping the question ("Would you do me the honor of becoming my subscriber?")

She says yes. The wedding is set and when the Priest/Rabbi/Judge asks "Do you..?" (in the form of a confirmation email), she says "I do!" (by clicking the link.)

You embark on your honeymoon (in the form of a Welcome message). You're staring into each others eyes and laying out the future (setting expectations, collecting more info, adjusting preferences).

What follows is the marriage.  Everything has built to this point, and it is important that both parties are active and engaged and honest.  For example, if one of you has stopped communicating, that's not good, and could likely lead to the eventual breakdown of the relationship.

From the sender's perspective, a silent recipient (no longer opening, clicking, buying...) could be due to a number of reasons:
"I need a break" - are you sending too often?
"I'm just not that into you anymore" - content not relevant?
"We never talk" - is your email getting blocked?
"There's someone else" - in a crowded inbox, someone else is more relevant?
"You never listen" - not honoring recipient's preferences?
"I didn't know what I was getting into" - signup form unclear/misleading?
"I've changed, you haven't" - Is your information timely and up-to-date?

While I don't want to trivialize the complexity of human relationships, I do want to emphasize the importance of planning your email marketing efforts beyond just getting people to sign up.  You want a relationship that is going to last.  Make sure you're paying attention to the signals and responding to them.  Try something different.  Make your subscribers feel special. If you have a group that's gone quiet on you and you are looking to re-connect, let us know.  We can help identify where to focus and provide some tips for campaigns to revive the relationship.

Oh, and I can't leave this whole analogy without going through the signs that it is indeed over:
A hard bounce is coming home and finding her closet empty.
An unsubscribe request is a "Dear John" letter.
An abuse complaint is a restraining order.

Kris Dougherty | Operations