The Email Wars

Email Preference Centers are important. Would anyone disagree here? We are seeing more and more marketers making preference centers more front and center in their list management and data management practices? Why? Well if presented with the opportunity to change email preferences, let me tell you more about myself, and using it as an outreach point in order have you get emails you want (or get off of those you do not) we can build a better relationship of trust. Together.

Trust and understanding is important. We saw some dialogues last week that stemmed from a post on this blog about this issue. We need to set up more points of communication of a two way dialogue and conversation. Email is not only about opt in, list growth, relevant emails and conversions. It is about trust and relationships. 

As people we are inundated with email marketing messages each and every day. We have the opportunity to take the high road and give less but of greater relationship value. I have used the example from IronPort (bought in the past by Cisco) in order to illustrate the approach to starting a conversation. Now I did not need the incentive of a new TV, but it is a touch of “What’s In It For Me” as a subscriber if they did not see the value of updating their preferences.

If you are not opening yourself up to learn more and communicate in a more open manner with your subscribers, then you are setting yourself up for more data issues in the future as well as poor performing campaigns. 

When are you going to set up your preference center and if you have one already… when are you going to let people know?