Guest post by Valerie J. Wilson
Ethos
Do companies really practice ethics anymore? A quick perusing of the email marketing headlines has consumers more wary than ever before. It’s your job to earn back that trust. Sometimes it truly is a quandary, and here’s the known truth: We are all consumers and none of us, including your customers, wants to feel scammed. Ever. Ethics in email marketing is of paramount importance to consumers.
Email rains into every person’s inbox every day; get yours opened and read!
Back to Basics
Use ethos, pathos, and logos. Remember that high school English class or that required first year writing class that you had to take in college? There is a reason that the “ethos, logos, and pathos” lecture notes are in every writing teacher’s files. These rhetorical devices work, and they are the base from which to attain credibility. Without credibility, you’re not going to last too long in the business, so – brush up on those skills, and (re)consider the basic descriptions of each.
Seller, beware
Be upfront, clear, and honest. If you’ve got a good product, stand behind it – and avoid using any of the many fallacies associated with a vast array of marketing techniques. The savvy reader of your emails will spot the fallacies – and then they won’t even consider opening your emails anymore. Sell it with sincerity and humor, and let your reader know how your product is going to solve a problem for them.
Want your email actually opened– or deleted and sent to the ‘dead’ file?
Subject line
This is not the place to sell your product; if you choose to, you can guarantee a quick click of the delete button. Attention-grabbing is the only goal here, but again, do it in a stand-up way. Don’t be coy.
Show, don’t tell
With tough economic times, buyers have gotten much more perceptive. Provide the truth about how your product can solve a problem, make life easier, help the buyer to be efficient, save money, provide safety, or figure out the logic behind why teenage boys still wear their pants far too low. Okay, that last one—scratch that.
Then again, if your product can solve that problem, every parent in America will kiss you and buy your product.
Golden Rule
This one never gets old. Think about your own patterns. Study what emails YOU actually open, and then sit back and ask yourself, “What made me open that?” Is it because the brand has established and earned your trust? Is it because you’re a loyal buyer, and you’re tempted to take advantage of a loyalty program? (They work. If you don’t have a loyalty program – get brainstorming!)
But really, it all boils down to treating your customers (and their time) exactly as you want to be treated. According to Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, what we really need to ask ourselves before sending out a mass email is, “Does this message contain a reasonable demand to make on someone else’s time?” What a simple but great question, isn’t it? Their online article provides engaging and excellent concepts to consider.
It’s worth putting in the time to rate your own marketing emails; rate yourself on a scale of 1-10, based on the virtue of the content. If it’s not a 10, don’t settle until it is.
For tips on increasing your trustworthiness by using using customer testimonials, download “Got To Be Real: Authentic Marketing.”
Valerie J. Wilson is a freelance writer who covers a wide variety of topics ranging from small business marketing to best practices for Spokeo removal. You can follow her on Twitter @valeriejwilson1.
This post Approaching Email Marketing in an Ethical Way was first published on the Big Ideas Blog.