Subscribers

Have you ever received an email that indicated you were receiving this email because you asked to? which you promptly looked at and said “Um when and where?” And then hit delete because you didn’t believe, or remember signing up for the email? Enough said. That’s the number one reason why you should include source identifiers in your email messages. And if you’re a responsible marketer you are already doing this. But perhaps you could improve your statement slightly?

Reminding someone exactly why they are receiving the email right off the bat (as in at the top of the email) with very specific information builds credibility and trust. If you tell me that I am receiving this email because I asked to when I went to xyz website or abc magazine then I am more likely to believe you (if you’re not lying and have a credible website/brand name; but that’s a whole other can of worms). Just think when getting physical mail in their mailbox, what’s the first thing most people do? They look to see who the sender is. If they know the sender, they are likely to open the mail sooner than that from someone they don’t know (I’m generalizing here of course).

If you need a better reason than the one I just listed, then know this – it’s best practice – and beyond that, it’s required for Canadian Marketing Association Members:

The identification of the sender and source of the e-mail must be clearly and obviously specified. Whenever possible it should be placed in that part of the e-mail that is visible without scrolling. Requiring that both the marketer and the source of the e-mail must be clearly identified gives consumers greater ability to control the amount of e-mail they receive.

For more information on Canadian email best practices, please read the CMA’s Guide to Email Marketing.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 7:03 am and is filed under Email Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.