I was recently thinking about the phrases we use like “Trick or Treat?!” Who really ever expects to be “tricked” anymore on Halloween night? Most people expect to give out a “treat.” It’s these phrases we use without thinking that make me want to know where they originated. I am kind of a nerd that way. I love to know the history of things we humans do. So I dug a little deeper and this is what I found about Halloween. Then I'll do a trick of my own and relate it to being an email marketing consultant!
The phrase "Trick-or-Treat" came as a “threat” it seems; in the early 20th century young people would play pranks and vandalisms would occur (quite prolifically). So in theory, families could prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood youngsters with small treats. A new tradition was born, candy companies jumped on board and today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion a year on Halloween. Talk about giving out treats! In the 1950’s Trick-or-Treating became such a tradition, that it even appeared in a Peanuts comic strip. Later, in 1966, our beloved “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” was born. Here's a clip to enjoy:
Hummm…interesting…and you ask, "How does this relate to email marketing?" Well, I was thinking of it this way: Which do you send out as an email marketing consultant? Do you try to “trick” people into opening your emails or do you want to “treat” them.
Unfortunately, the first seems to be true for email marketing. Instead of giving out treats, email marketers give out rocks (like Charlie Brown received). Do your email contacts expect to be treated or tricked? Or better yet, treated or spammed?
Even as an email marketing consultant, there are times I am wary of giving out my email because I know what most companies do-they email me daily and most of it is just a trick- a pile of spam that I am not interested in digging through to get to the few treats that might be there.
Here are a few things to keep in mind so you can treat your contacts with what they are looking for and not trick them with some other agenda.
One of the best ways to treat your customers is to segment your lead lists. When someone downloads a video on the topic of “Nut free treats” they should be put in the “nut free” list so they don’t get the “Snickers really Satisfies” email campaign. Obviously they are looking for something WITHOUT nuts!
Segmenting your lists can help make your offers more relevant to the contact.
“What are you dressed up as?” Oh- I can totally see that you’re a vampire ballerina.
The best way to segment your lists is to find out more information about the contact. When they fill out a form, ask for details in your form fields that will help in your segmentation.
“Here’s a blood red lollipop for the cute vampire ballerina” How excited is she now!
Not to be creepy or stalkerish, but personalizing your emails, when done right, can and does help build relationships. When you personalize your email greeting and when you include content, offers and CTAs that speak to the contact's interests, they get excited. They feel understood. Just pleeeease don’t make them feel like you are standing in their living room window with a scary mask on--and that leads me right into the next tip…
As an email marketing consultant, I appreciate it so much when the emails I receive are from REAL people. There is no façade, no sales technical jargon, no officiallese, just a real person who is contacting me with helpful relevant information. I usually don’t go for the shouty, pushy type of emails; I would rather contact someone who is personable, easy to talk to, will be a good listener and knows their topic. How do I know this from an email? I can tell through the words used, that they are not wearing a mask or trying to be someone else!
When all you have is 20-30 characters in a subject line to grab someone’s attention, choose them wisely! With all the emails that come through, the subject line is like the cover of a book. Although we are told to not judge a book by its cover, most of us do, and when it comes to reading emails, that is also true! Within the first paragraph, if you haven’t captured your reader’s attention, shown that you are a real helpful human, with real answers to the questions they have, then you probably won’t reach as many people as you would like.
As an email marketing consultant, remember to deliver treats this Halloween and stay away from the email marketing tricks. Here is a small treat for you: a word cloud to highlight the main points in this blog: Enjoy!