Mistakes You Should Avoid While Emailing Subscribers
Every blogger knows that email subscribers are the lifeline of any blog, particularly one that is just starting out. Without them, your blog will be left fending for itself in a sea of search engine results. Mail subscribers are your regular readers. They get an update every time you post something on your blog, and unless you mess it up, they will visit your page to see what you have to say.
Because they are so crucial to your blog, it is of utmost importance to not take your mailing list for granted and irritate your subscribers with annoying mailing practices. So what can you do to make sure subscribers don’t end up blacklisting you? Well, here are six awful gaffes you could commit while mailing your subscribers. Make sure you stay clear of these mistakes.
1. Updating too frequently
It is true that followers prefer a regularly updated blog, and the reason they signed up to be in your mailing list in the first place is that they want to read your writings or view your posts. But there is such a thing as too many updates. No matter how popular your blog is, people are going to grow bored of it if you overdose them. Moreover, if a reader opens her mailbox in the morning and finds not one but several updates from you through the night, she is not going to be excited about having to check them all. I have personally unsubscribed myself from several blogs that spammed my inbox with too frequent update mails.
2. Changing your mail format every now and then
Readers tend to view mails from blogs and sites with suspicion, even if they have signed up to receive mail from them. It will take you time to win the trust of your subscribers with a fixed pattern and design of mail that they will learn to recognize, but you will lose all the ground you gained the moment you change it. People are not fond of change, so be sure not to indulge in your temptation to add a newness to your mails every time.
3. Treating your subscribers like idiots
The average email subscriber is quite internet aware, and will see right through you if you send them patronizing mails that pretend that you love, admire, or care about them personally. They know only too well that you are sending the same mail to hundreds of other people, so don’t try to insult their intelligence. Instead of acting like a politician at election time, place emphasis on the content of your post and why you think they might be interested in it. You will be doing your subscribers a favor.
4. Not including an unsubscribe button
Too many bloggers commit this error, as they feel it is a way to hold on to readers even when they want to leave. But what you are actually doing is trapping people in your blog. Do you really want trapped, pissed off followers? They won’t be visiting your blog anyway, and they will probably instruct their email spam checker to dump your mails to the spam folder. But it could get ugly too. They could decide to spam you in revenge, by leaving nasty comments in your posts and scaring off other readers.
5. Breaking your promises
If you have made a promise in an earlier post to write about a topic or address a specific question from a reader, you cannot go back on your promise. This will erode any trust you have built up in the minds of your followers. If for some reason you cannot post the promised content, let the readers know the reason, along with your apologies.
6. Recommending bad products
It is perfectly acceptable for you to recommend products to your subscribers or include advertisements in the mails you send out, provided you make it clear whether or not you are receiving payment for the same. But remember that your readers trust you, and if you advertise a product that you have not tried out, or that you know to be bad, you are breaching that trust. This will never pay in the long run.
