5 Steps for Avoiding Newsletter Related Abuse Complaints
As a small business owner, it is important to stay on top of new marketing strategies and by now, you’ve probably realized that online marketing is one of your best marketing tools available. If you have been doing your research about online marketing then you know that creating an email newsletter list is a fantastic marketing strategy. Although this is a very effective tool, there might be some challenges that arise from time to time and in this article, Forward Web provides us with this helpful guide of 5 steps for avoiding newsletter related abuse complaints.
One thing you should be aware of is the potential for getting email newsletters complaints (such as reports of spam and email abuse). If not handled properly, this could lead to some serious repercussions such a negative reputation for your business or even legal trouble for you and your business (in the worst of situations). However, there are steps that you can take to help avoid these types of situations and in turn, run a more effective and reputable newsletter. Take a look at the following 5 steps:
Step #1: Identify Yourself Clearly
To make sure your readers know exactly where their emails are coming from, use your company or website name ans the “sent from” name. Not only will this encourage the reader to open the email but it will eliminate any confusion. For example, some email newsletters add their first and last names or some other name in the “sent from” field, but this can oftentimes look and feel like spam mail to your readers (even if they recognize your website or company name but might not recognize your first and last name at all).
Step #2: Allow for Easy Unsubscribing
Even though this might seem counter-productive, it is important to give your subscribers the option to unsubscribe if they desire to do so. This is mainly to establish good rapport between your leads/clients and your company. From your subscriber’s perspective, it can be very frustrating to try to unsubscribe from a newsletter only to continue to receive these emails regularly therefore, avoid putting your subscribers through this by adding a simple “unsubscribe” link on the bottom of each email. If your subscribers have any difficulties with this process and they contact you because they are frustrated or upset, make sure to assist them. It is certainly better to help them unsubscribe and keep them happy than to deal with complaints about your newsletter or company later.
Step #3: Require a Double Opt-In Process
What is a double opt-in? This is the process where after the subscriber signs up through your website, they then receive an email confirming that subscription. Once the subscriber opens that email and goes to the link within, then the subscription is confirmed (otherwise, the person will not be added to the email list). This process gives the subscriber another opportunity to make sure they want to be a part of the list and also helps ensure that people do not enter other peoples’ email addresses in the field to sign them up.
Step #4: Send Quality Emails
I’m sure we have all signed up for some sort of email newsletter at some point and once we did regretted it because we thought they would be better than they actually turned out to be. That is a very negative experience. One which you don’t want your subscribers to experience. You don’t want them to be disappointed by your emails or even change their mind and assume that your company newsletters are spam. Putting effort in creating quality newsletters is therefore very important. Create a newsletter that is useful, helpful and interesting and avoid any overbearing sales verbiage. Your goal should be for your newsletter to be just that, a newsletter; one which readers can enjoy. Doing so will help ensure that your emails are well received and effective (and will prevent any issues for “spam” emails).
Step #5: Do NOT Spam Your Subscribers
People do not like spam. I don’t like it, I’m sure you don’t like it and frankly, I can’t think of a single person who does. With this in mind, let’s discuss frequency; the frequency with which you should send out your newsletters varies on a lot of factors but ultimately you shouldn’t be sending out newsletters more than once a day. In fact, many companies have found that once a week is more than enough. A great option is to allow your subscribers to choose the frequency of their newsletters. Allowing them to customize their subscription (whether they prefer to receive newsletters daily, weekly or monthly) is a good way to ensure they are satisfied.
Avoiding newsletter related abuse complaints is pretty simple if you follow these steps. Not only will you have less complaints to worry about but your newsletters will be much more effective and even enjoyed by your subscribers! At the end of the day, you want happy and satisfied subscribers. For more information and tips on creating effective newsletters or if you have any questions regarding any of our services, please feel free to contact Forward Web.
