Pay Your Subscribers Some Respect

Today, I received an email offer from a retailer for an online game where I can win discounts. I don't shop here frequently, but ok, I'll bite. Let's see what this is all about. So I click through (score one for the retailer's email marketing manager).

Upon clicking, I'm delivered to the promotional microsite for their new game/contest. The site prompts me to enter my email. This is mildly annoying, since I just clicked through from an email and it would have been simple for the website to recognize me or at the very least, pre-populate my address to save me a minute of hassle. Still, I am not deterred. In this economy, we'll all do a little more than usual for a great coupon. So I enter my address and continue on.



Do I get to play the game? No. I am now greeted with an even longer form! Keep in mind that I have purchased something from this retailer before. Online. Quite recently. So not only am I a registered user, but they already have my address and all of the other information they are requesting. In fact, notice they give me the option to register for their e-newsletter list, which I'm already registered for (that's how I got here!). At this point, I decide it's not worth it and abandon the form.



Why do marketers continue to make it so difficult to interact with their brand when technology should make it so easy? The example above is a clear case of what not to do. When you create landing pages or microsites, use caution and balance friction with incentive, or you'll surely notice high abandonment rates.

The Lost Art of Letter Writing

A mini vacation and busy days at the office have been keeping me away from this blog lately, but today I am back.

And I am back to rant. Just briefly, I promise.

Maybe it's because I had a fantastically strict public relations writing professor, or maybe it's just because I read a lot, but I judge people based on their writing. Maybe more critically than I do on most other aspects of personality - and especially in business transactions, as I rarely have the occasion to meet my clients face-to-face in my current position.

Almost every day I receive emails from my clients that are not only improper business etiquette, but also flat out rude. There is something about the internet, social networking and chat rooms that has given people the impression that they no longer have to be professional in emails.

I was recently passed a client from my sales team to launch a new account. As usual, I contacted the person about setting up an initial call. I gave an explanation of services and offered a number of times I would be available to meet, within two days. This person, whom I had never met or even spoken to, responded with the following: "The sooner the better. Talk soon."

And that was all. To me, this kind of communication is just not acceptable. Just because email is fast and easy, does not mean you should not treat it as you would any other professional correspondence. Please, people, use complete sentences. Be mindful of your audience. And for God's sake, use appropriate punctuation.

In a related post on my corporate blog, I discussed a few other points of email etiquette that may be of interest.