Recover MistakeWe’ve all been there. You spend ages crafting an email marketing campaign, albeit under the influence of a heavy workload that forces you to continually break away from the task in hand.  As a result, you make a mistake. A big one. But, there’s just one problem…

You’ve already pressed ‘send’.

That email, complete with its hideous error, has made its way out to your treasured and painstakingly developed subscriber list. And now, they’re all going to hate you.

Hold on.

Don’t panic.

You can get over this and win back their affections by following these guiding principles of email marketing disaster recovery:

React quickly – and coolly

When it comes to poor customer reviews online, you have time to sit back, take a breath and think about a reply.

Email marketing mistakes are a little different. This is an instant form of communication that heads straight into your recipients’ inboxes, and they’ll react quickly by either replying, forwarding or posting a screenshot of your email on social media for the world to see.

This means you need to be just as swift with your response, albeit while remaining as cool as a cucumber.

Take a few deep, long breaths, and gather yourself. Once you feel calm(er), you can start to sketch out the ‘oops, sorry’ follow-up email.

Don’t blame anyone else for the mistake

You did this – no one else. Don’t try and blame someone else. Even if it really was Dave who popped in halfway through the campaign creation to tell you about his relentlessly boring new hobby.

The apology you send should start with a clear admission that a mistake has been made. By taking ownership, you’ll limit the flack you receive and demonstrate that the business is as human as its customers.

Good people will respect your honesty and hear you out if you admit the screw up.

Offer something by way of an apology

If you can, add some substance to your apology by offering your audience a little sweetener. A small discount will often do the trick.

The idea here is to think of something that’s of relatively high value to them but which will be of little cost to the business. And, if that means bringing forward a future discount campaign – so be it!

Don’t forget to personalise the message

Of course, if you’re a great email marketer, the initial whoopsie you sent out will have been personalised, but if not, make sure the apology is.

A greeting that includes the recipient’s name both in the body of the email and within its subject line will show you really are sorry on a personal level.

If you’re stuck for what to write – put yourself in their shoes

Writing an apology email isn’t easy. You’ll toil over the tone and re-read your copy so many times that it ceases to make sense.

If you can’t see the wood for the trees or simply can’t fill the empty void in front of you, put yourself in the shoes of your subscribers.

What kind of apology would you want from a company that sent out the previous email? The answer should arrive relatively quickly – use it as inspiration.

Wrapping up

Some email marketing mistakes are minor, while others have the potential to cause signifiant brand damage.

Our tips above apply to both types of mistake, and you will almost certainly make one of them – so keep this blog handy!