Newsletter Blunders—Prevention and Perfection
For those that think that shortcuts are okay, here’s another recent example of content and contact. Eat Media, (along with a number of other people) recently received emails from a graduate student attending East Carolina University interested in having us participate in a marketing study. More than a few things went south with this project.
A few problems:
1. They trolled my email from MediaBistro.
2. They cc’ed everyone on the list, leaving email addresses in plain sight, thus creating a privacy issue.
3. There were numerous spelling and grammar errors in the emails.
4. This was the first contact I ever had from East Carolina University and they wanted something. The lack of professionalism and authenticity forced me look up whether or not East Carolina University was even a real school.
5. No CAN/SPAM considerations were in the body or footer of the email.
6. Different fonts sizes were used in the email, on the same line.
7. The survey was unbranded.
8. “The investigators will be available to answer any questions concerning this research, now or in the future.” This sentence confused and scared me, “investigators?”
9. The first email link to the survey was a login page.
10. There were no design elements on the survey.
The graduate student in charge of this project had the opportunity to generate some amazing data and converse with some incredibly talented people. But instead, the student used a sloppy, shotgun approach to a strategy that required accuracy, intelligence and finesse. Needless to say I won’t be participating in the survey and I have scratched East Carolina University off my son’s short list. In the real world, vendors are fired over issues like this and potential customers are turned off.
We all make mistakes and I am sure the graduate student will never make this one again—let’s all learn from her mistakes. In other inbox news, Seth Godin had a similar issue yesterday. See his blog for an example on how to handle a newsletter Oops. And if you want see how big brands like Pottery Barn handle email campaigns, check out the newsletter/email perfection of Smith and Harmon.
