We know that none of our followers on 60 Second Marketer would have a problem with publishing errors in an eNewsletter. All of our published information is accurate, all of our hyperlinks work, and all of our prices, addresses, times, and names are correct. Always. Well, usually.

The problem arises is that none of us are experts on how to recover from these errors, because they happen so rarely.

The answer, as so often around the house, is to pull out the duct tape. Patch things back together in your eNewsletter before it gets any worse using these six steps. You don’t want to risk losing the trust of your customers.

Here are the six steps that, just like duct tape, you’ll need to keep in your tool box, taken from Guru’s Guide to Email Marketing Success, “Email Corrections and Why They Make Cents: Strategies for the Inevitable Email Goof”,   http://www.lyris.com/.

1) Decide if a Correction Email is Needed. While grammatical errors or typos, incorrect images, or images that won’t load aren’t usually cause for a correction, it will probably warrant a recovery email when the mistake:

-seriously misinforms your recipients (incorrect date, wrong pricing, etc.)

-does not allow recipients to complete a form, transaction, down load a white paper, access an article.

-has the potential to damage your brand image, reputation, customer relationships, or is just not consistent with the expectations of your readers.

Once it has been determined that a recovery email is necessary, determine the following logistics:

2) When to send it? In general, as soon as possible.

3) What format? If the error is in the newsletter itself, make the correction and note it in the email message and in the subject line. When a website link error is involved, a plain text message letting recipients know the error is fixed is sufficient.

4) What style? Consider the nature of your organization, the relationship you have with your customers, and the type of mistake that was made. Then use an appropriate tone: apologetic, serious, humorous, etc.

5) What is the message? Concise and to the point, whether it is an intro to the corrected email or a resend with the fix in it. Explain the correction that was made, and if appropriate, include an offer to make up for the mistake.

6) Who gets it? If the error is in the email, resend to the entire list. If the error is in the website, send it to those who either opened the email or those who clicked on the affected links.

So don’t worry too much once an email newsletter error is found. These steps, just like duct tape, can fix a lot, and should make for a quick and professional recovery.

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From Guru’s Guide to Email Marketing Success, “Email Corrections and Why They Make Cents: Strategies for the Inevitable Email Goof”.   http://www.lyris.com/

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Tuesday, March 16th, 2010, 7:20 am   |   Email marketing, Marketing Best Practices  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback