As humans, we typically fear failure. So, when it comes to email marketing, it’s easy to think negatively about making mistakes. But while practice makes perfect, perfection isn’t always what’s best for your brand. The most seasoned email marketers know and appreciate that small mistakes aren’t bad, but opportunities to improve.
Unless you’re a frequent offender or dealing with a VERY big oversight, seize the opportunity to let the occasional blunder be a learning lesson. Errors act as quality assurance, so without recognizable slips you will never know what you are doing wrong or where you could potentially improve. If you are a member of an email marketing team, or more importantly a manager of one, try to dismantle any culture of fear so mistakes aren’t hidden, but instead evaluated and improved for future practices. If you simply use email marketing to personally build awareness about you, your brand or your business, whether big or small, give yourself a break.
A lack of mistakes also probably means your brand isn’t thinking far enough outside of the box. Common elements like animated GIFs and newer elements like interactivity can be a little hazardous, but so what? Without this content, is your email even worth reading? Without innovative tactics, your email is less prone to error, but more likely to wind up unopened or ignored.
Finally, think back to a time when you blew something out of proportion for no reason, and apply that feeling to your potential fear of email marketing innovations. The likelihood of your consumer retaliating for a small slipup is highly unlikely. If anything, they will appreciate how humanizing it is. The bonus is that subscribers are more likely to pay attention to an apology email, so it has the potential of driving additional traffic to your campaigns.
If you make an apology-worthy mistake, fess up and move on. No one likes making them, but without mistakes, it’s impossible to learn and grow.
Let ResponseGenius help take your email marketing to the next level – hello@responsegenius.com
