I rarely subscribe to newsletters. And when I do, I have high expectations. I expect that businesses and brands would be true to their promise. That I’d get something of value in return. But that rarely happens.
Usually, what I’d get is straight up "give me your money” worded in different ways each day.
So I end up unsubscribing or filtering the message out.
I am left wondering if businesses and brands who put up sign up forms really want to connect to their audience or not. Because if they don’t, they shouldn’t even bother asking for the email addresses of people they want to reach.
When someone signs up for your mailing list, they’re opening a door for you. A subscription to your newsletters is an invitation, a permission given to you. It’s a yes to your question “Can I bother you?”
And with that yes, you can start a conversation and start building relationships.
But what do most businesses do with that permission? They don’t value it at all. They take it for granted and just keep on pushing you to buy this and buy that. They trick you with clickbait subjects but when you open the mail, it’s yet another dismal "give me your money” message.
It’s not that you should just give your product or service to your subscribers for free. That’s not what I am getting at.
Your subscribers just opened a line of communication, the very least you can do is communicate. Get to know them better.
What makes them happy?
What delights them?
What is upsetting to them?
What sets them off?
In fact, communicating with your subscribers puts you at a vantage point. The more information you have about your audience, the more you can tweak your product or service to suit their needs, wants, and desires. The more you can tailor-made solutions for them. The easier it is for you to delight them.
And you’ll be surprised that you won’t even need to come up with attention grabbing subjects just so they’d open your email. You won’t need to use scarcity tactics and you won’t need to keep on peppering your emails with calls to action such as "Buy This & Buy Now" to convince them to do so. They’d actively seek out your emails and look forward to them. And all because you bothered to care, communicate, and hear your customers out.
If the main reason behind your sign up form is so that you can keep on pushing people to “Buy This & Buy Now”, most likely, you’ll get a “Bye This & Bye Now and Forever” result.
