Respecting your current and potential subscribers is important in building trust through your email marketing campaign. How you collect email addresses and what you do with them will establish the level of respect you’ll provide. Most individuals consider their email address as private so what you do with it greatly affects whether you get to build on that trust or ruin it entirely. Subscribers trust those that show the most respect for their privacy. Here are tips to help you give subscribers the highest level of respect.
1. Set High Permission Standards
Never trick people into opting in. Get clear permission to send out everything you want to through your email marketing campaign. This means you should never pre-check opt-in boxes or trick subscribers with intentionally misleading text (i.e. "Do not select this option if you do not want to receive…"). Before people sign up, provide clear information on exactly what they are signing up for. Let them know what type of emails they will be receiving and how often they can expect them. Another level of confirmation is best. Ask new subscribers to confirm their decision to opt in through a second action, like asking them to click on a confirmation link located in your first email.
2. Be Transparent About Your Privacy Policies
Don’t intentionally publish privacy policies in long legal speak, or small print, knowing subscribers are unlikely to read them. Make it simple for them to discover and understand exactly what you intend to use their data for, and establish the proper level of respect. This means writing your privacy policies in simple language and making it easily accessible. If you trust and respect their privacy and if you really are trustworthy, you shouldn’t have anything to hide.
3. Respect Permission to the Highest Degree
Never rent or sell your list to third parties, even if you feel confident it can’t be traced back to you. People set certain expectations when they submit their email addresses to trustworthy email marketers. Subscribers don’t expect marketing messages from new senders or other things they did not explicitly sign up for. They should receive exactly what you told them to expect. In doing so, you will be recognized as a trustworthy provider.
In email marketing, you need to show subscribers exactly why they should trust you; and the amount of respect you give their privacy is a huge part of creating your trustworthiness. Never try to trick them into opting in for anything they don’t expect or fully understand. Value the trust they show for you as they give you their email addresses.
Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA). ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs. Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics. For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or herFREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit: http://www.accbizsvcs.com. Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com
-- For quick access to a few recent posts:
Last time we discussed the top five mistakes to avoid when marketing your business, here are the final five!
6. Your message isn’t clear. Always test it out on current clients, peers, or family/friends to be sure it’s not confusing or misses the point you’re trying to make.
Without marketing your business could stagnate, or even worse, close. Identifying and correcting some basic marketing mistakes will help you to promote and grow your business.
Here are my Top Ten Marketing Mistakes
1. Your message
Many of you broke into a sweat after reading the title, didn’t you? Many don’t have a plan because they believe it’s too hard, too time consuming, or they just don’t know where to start.
Creating a good marketing plan doesn’t have to be overwhelming, or costly, but it will save you time and help you achieve your goals.
Tags:
attracting clients,
building client relationship,
business brand,
Business Ethics,
business goals,
Business Tips,
ethical decisions,
ethical dilemma,
ethics,
marketing,
Marketing Tips
Related posts
[...] Read the original here: Subscriber Respect Builds Trust in Email Marketing | Virtual … [...]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by JeannineClontz: New blog post: Subscriber Respect Builds Trust in Email Marketing http://bit.ly/cepwv6...