You made a typo, or noticed a spelling or grammar error after publishing:
Change the web version ASAP – it won’t change what’s in the inbox, but click-throughs on web versions will display the corrected copy. Of course, prevention is better than a cure – always get someone else to proofread your copy. Try setting your publish for a 10 minute delay. This will give you time to take one last look before it goes out, and a final chance to catch any mistakes.
You sent out a campaign with the wrong subject line:
The appropriate response will vary depending on the severity of the mistake. If it’s something minor like the wrong date for your monthly newsletter, don’t make a big deal of it. Most people will let it slide. You might get a handful of well-meaning replies pointing out your error. If you incorrectly conveyed important information, you might want to consider resending. If you go down this path, be sure to add a note to the top of your email content explaining the resend and apologising.
You published a campaign with broken or incorrect links:
This will seriously affect your conversion rates and ROI, so republish with an addendum up the top briefly explaining and apologising. You might like to edit your subject line to reflect the correction, for example, [Corrected] Company News – February 2015.
The campaign has been incorrectly personalised:
Perhaps you slipped in the wrong merge code, or typed in a name for testing and sent out the campaign, calling everyone Melissa. There’s probably nothing you can do to correct the error in this case, but bear this in mind: your recipients aren’t comparing notes. So, while you know that everyone in your campaign list was called Melissa, take comfort from the fact that they will all assume it was just wrongly addressed to one person. Make sure the next campaign is correctly personalised to reinforce the idea.
Above all, don’t panic. Take a moment or two to consider the real consequences before you fly into damage control. How will your recipient be affected? How will that, in turn, affect your brand? If the worst case scenario is going to damage the relationship, consider making a conciliatory offer. Be polite and professional at all times. Don’t write ‘oops’ (or any spelling variation thereof) anywhere, you’re an adult.
Email marketing is not a one size fits all technique. It takes proper planning and review in order to be successful and achieve the desired outcomes for your business. Swift Digital can help you create the ideal automation strategy to make your next email marketing campaign a success!
To find out how your business can get the best out of Swift Digital’s platform, contact our Sales Team today on 02 9929 7001.
