Email Marketing Mistake – How To Stop Getting Unsubscribes

The other day I was asked about email marketing…

It seems to finally be catching on… that sending email marketing messages might actually be of value to your business!!

What they asked made me cringe… I’ll share with you what they asked and then explain why it made me cringe.

They decided that email marketing could help their biz… they have heard that email can help convert leads… they heard that they should build an email list and send “newsletters”… and wondered if I had any tips… specifically… “How do I stop getting unsubscribes?”

First, full disclosure. I’m late to the email marketing game. I didn’t start understanding the power of email marketing and building a list until 2008.

I didn’t even start doing my daily email on marketing and productivity tips until October 1st of 2011.

So, if I was late to the game and you are not even in the game yet… Step up. It’s time to play.

Email marketing is, as Beck said, “Where it’s at!”.  (Click To Tweet)

Next, why it made me cringe.

“How to stop getting unsubscribes?” is such the wrong mindset to start with.

Do you know how to make sure you never strike out at the plate? Don’t ever step up to bat.

Do you know how to make sure you never miss a shot? Don’t ever take one.

Do you know how to make sure you never have an omelet? Don’t ever break any eggs.

If you want to do effective email marketing, you are going to lose some people along the way.

The key word in that last sentence was “effective”. Thus the reason I italicized it.

It is a mistake to make your objective be – make sure no one unsubscribes.

Your objective should be to get people to reply. (Remember my last email, I also shared the mistake of going for the click thru. The click thru is lame. That’s another mistake. Go for the reply.)

Guess what?

My emails that make the most sales ALSO have the highest unsubscribe rate.

My emails that get the most replies of gratitude and thanks ALSO get the most hate mail and unsubscribes.

Email marketing is like business. It’s not for people that want to play it safe and can’t deal with rejection.

There is much to learn about email marketing… the first place to start would be at the Marketing and Productivity Radio show… take a listen.

During that show I share with you a 9 word email that gets people to respond. Listen to Marketing and Productivity Radio – Episode 14.

If you have already took a listen to the show… the next step in email marketing and taking your business to the next levels is joining Levels Coaching.

–
Darin “I got 2 turntables and a microphone” Persinger 

P.S. >> Some people will tell you that email is a numbers game. That you should track open rate, click thru, etc.

True that email is a numbers game. But the numbers you are usually hearing to track and measure are the wrong numbers. That means you are playing the wrong game.

Focus on Reply/Response Rate from new leads.

Focus on Referral Rate & Response Rate from existing database.

Everything else… not that important.

To get some base hits and a homerun or two, you are gonna swing and miss. Maybe even strike out a time or two.