On the upside, at least they’ve kept this email simple and the the point. It’s clear what they’re selling, and they have original content… (click to view a larger image)
I was so dismayed to see this email in my inbox today that I initially thought it might be a joke.
The subject line of “New Email Marketing Tool Eliminates the Need to Write Your Own Articles,” drove me to open the email looking for the punchline, only to find that it was, in fact, not a joke. MailerMailer is completely serious when they suggest that you use boxed, stock content for email marketing.
Feel free to check out the promotion video on vimeo… as long as you keep in mind that this is a HORRIBLE idea. I don’t say this just because I hope that our current and future clients will ask us to help them create content for email marketing. I say this because I am a consumer and email audience member and I HATE it when people waste my time.
Now, it is just my opinion. I’m pretty sensitive to big-brand BS. I dropped cable TV 20 years ago, I prefer farmers market produce, and I’m a generally all-around cynical person.
This is a big part of why I own my own business now, after salaried employment with big, publicly-traded companies for 4 years. It didn’t fit me.
This is why we choose the clients we do, because we like working with small businesses who are passionate about what they do and have a real stake in the product they produce or the service they provide.
Canned content for email marketing is the opposite of that.
No matter how helpful those articles might be, they have no place in an email you send to your audience. Your audience signed up for your emails because they want to hear from you or about your product. Canned content is worse than elevator music… it is the email equivalent of the never-ending loop of generic sales patter that the bank makes you listen to while you’re on hold.
It’s worse than silence.
While I recently lamented over some rookie mistakes I’ve seen clients make, ALL of those mistakes are preferable to using canned or plagiarized content for email marketing.
So. Please, respect your email audience. I promise you that it will pay off in good vibes… AND in sales.
BIPi Pro Tip
Original content is super important when it comes to SEO, too! SEO can be a fraught topic, and finding a specialist you can trust to actually realize ROI can seem impossible. While we have a few trusted partners that we love working with, they (like us) aren’t always the best fit for everyone. Thankfully, DesignRush makes it easy to get your search started (we’re out there, too!). You can sort by industry served, get context for budget, and read reviews.