Email Blasting: Issues and Benefits

BLAST OFF! Emails that is…

Email blasting – or e-blast – can be on the positive side of the line when it comes to email marketing. But, beware, if you cross the line then you are treading in spam waters! The key to effective email blasting, and keeping it on the right side of the fence, is to direct it towards a specific audience, rather than random individuals.

There are a few issues with random email blasting:

1. If you send it to a bunch of random people – there is a high likelihood that your address will be marked as spam by the reader, you haven’t built a rapport!
2. Email Blast is a “dirty word” in the marketing world – as it conveys a sense of mindless quantity not effective quality – which never builds relationships.
3. Untested email’s used for mass marketing will almost always end up in people’s spam – most email providers have automatic spam filters – so the intended individual doesn’t even see it!

Now, it sounds totally negative, and it doesn’t have to be. There are a few things you can do that can decrease your email’s chances of ending up in your audience’s spam folder:

1. Send the email via a company email

What’s more professional: inviting a client for a meeting in your living room, or your office? Office, you say? Correct! So, don’t send your marketing email via your personal Hotmail, yahoo, or Gmail address – use your company address.

Bonus: it also improves branding! People will want to click to find out more about your company!

2. Be aware of common wording/typing mistakes

Spam filters are getting more intelligent. They are formulated to detect certain things such as CAPITALS, excessive exclamation!!!!!, bright green or red fonts.

3. Write like you’re in a Relationship not like a Salesperson

Using terms like “BUY NOW!!!”, “URGENT!”, and “LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!” (Again with the capitals and excessive exclamation…) not only decreases your company’s credibility but threatens you with spam filters again. It makes the email sound cheesy and desperate rather than informative and interesting.  You don’t have to be your clients best friend, but remember, on the other end of that email is a human!

If you remind yourself (and/or your creative content advisers or community managers) that email blasting is about building a relationship and not about spamming random audiences, then it can be highly successful. At the end of the day, most everyone has an email and the majority of emails are being pushed directly to their smartphones, tablets, and laptops. So, be creative, interesting, and engaging, and use mass marketing emails to your advantage to secure clients and maintain your business relationships!