Recently, I was the recipient of a re-engagement campaign from a big brand name website in the email marketing and deliverability space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The subject line caught my attention: \u266c Should we stay or should we go? \u266c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The email started off very direct with an acknowledgement that they know I’m busy and my email inbox is a crowded place. All pretty standard and not very exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this is where it got weird. It said “To continue receiving our emails, please click on the Stay Koala.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Huh? I was already confused!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, after the animated gif they’d used to show me what the preferences page would look like and what to do if I should choose to remain on the list, it said that if I did not want to receive the emails, click on the “Go Monkey” and unsubscribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the bottom of the email, they had an icon of a koala and a monkey for me to choose!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yep… Monkeys and Koalas! And NO… this wasn’t Mail Chimp!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a very confusing concept. Someone in creative probably thought it would be a “different” way to approach the engagement experience. That it was, but it left me scratching my head a bit wondering what the heck monkeys and koalas had to do with email marketing at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lesson: Don’t go overboard with “cute” or try “too hard”! You want to capture attention, but not CONFUSE people. As we all know, a confused mind says no (or in this case, nothing at all!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For over a decade Heather Seitz used email marketing to build successful companies and had to solve the biggest barrier to consistent profitability: deliverability. Today she is the Co-Founder and CEO of Email Delivered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n