How Not To Use Email for Marketing

Email marketing can be effective, but it can also be a waste of time and effort.  Years ago I switched my own email provider to a Google based account because of their excellent spam filtering algorithms. My Yahoo account was filled with crap and Gmail was soooo much better.

Last week someone sent me an email to my radio station email account that made it past our spam filters.  It was pretty bad.  Take a look:

Dear Scott,

As a business professional, ReachBase would like to occasionally send you relevant and informative business related offers via email.

Each message will contain a link that will allow you to be immediately removed from this valuable program at any time.

We look forward to providing you with this useful business resource.

If you do not wish to receive these useful business offers, please use the link below.

Thank you,

ReachBase

I had never heard of this company.  I don’t know how they got my email address, but the real issue is what this email message is missing.

Who the heck is ReachBase and why do I want their email offers?

They failed to give me a Valid Business Reason for wanting to read their email.

Read it again.  It’s all generic babel. 

Most people would ignore this or label it as spam.  But I decided to turn it into a lesson.  The one you are reading right now.

I Googled ReachBase included the address that was in the fine print and discovered that the company name is really Reach Marketing. That’s a big mistake. If you are going to send me an email, you probably need to have a spot online that is the same as the name you are promoting.  At least a landing page telling me who you are with the same name you are promoting, not some off shoot.

But here’s the kicker.  I discovered this on their website:

Reach Marketing is the only company that brings together an inter-disciplinary team of IT, software development, marketing, audience development, database marketing, analytics, SEO/SMO and digital experts within one organization to drive the success of its clients.

And:

Email is the single most powerful marketing medium because it generates high response rates at a relatively low cost. Email marketing is immediate, can be tracked real time and remains the preferred method to communicate with professionals and consumers. Despite their benefits, email campaigns can fail to produce maximum results when not properly executed; strong performance depends on skill and expertise.

My B.S. filter just exploded.

First off, to claim you are the only company that has such a team is a lie.  I know other companies and worked for one that has all those bases covered.

Maybe they are the best at something?  Nope.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece and you can read for yourself, their own email marketing campaign to me was not “skillfully executed with expertise”.

But it did give me something to write about.

I don’t know all the answers, and I won’t pretend to either.  But if you want help with your marketing efforts to attract customers either digitally or on one of my radio stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana…contact me.