How do you avoid sounding spammy or pushy when sending email updates to your prospects or customers?

As a Brand Evangelist for GetResponse, I consistently emphasize the importance of personalization and relevance in email communications. To avoid sounding spammy or pushy, it's crucial to leverage data insights to tailor your messages to the specific needs and preferences of your audience. This approach not only enhances engagement but also reinforces the value of your content, keeping your brand top of mind in a way that feels natural and respectful.

Identify the purpose of the email you are about to send. Carefully create the content that is tailored to the recipients (this is simpler when you segment your recipients). Remain focus on the purpose of the email without irrelevant information. Be respectful in your choice of words and tone of communication.

Based on my experience this require understanding of purpose and thoughtful approach to messaging 1 Define the objective of email, are we providing an update, feedback or sharing content. Is the purpose align with interest and need of recipients 2 Customize email by addressing recipients by first name to add human touch and show value, segment email list based on user behavior, preference and demographic 3 Ensure each email provide value to receipt 4 Keeping email concise and to point, including a clear call to action 5 Write in friendly conversational tone that make email more personal 6 Don't send too many email in short period, respect inbox and find balance that keep them engaged 7 Use A/B testing to experiment with different options

Before crafting your email update, clarify your objective. Whether it's to inform, provide value, solicit feedback, or enforce a deadline, let this purpose shape your tone, content, and call to action. Ensure each email offers a distinct benefit to the recipient, avoiding unnecessary communication. This focus will enhance the relevance and impact of your messages.

Use the recipient's name and reference past interactions. It’s like catching up with an old friend rather than making a sales pitch. Keep it short and sweet. Your customers are busy people. A quick, informative update or a brief check-in shows respect for their time. Highlight the key points - what’s in it for them? Whether it’s a new product feature, a useful tip, or an exclusive offer, make it clear and compelling. Finally, always offer value. Whether it’s insider advice, a discount, or an engaging story about your brand, make sure each email adds to their day. Remember, it’s about building a relationship, not just closing a sale.

Diversity in your audience deserves diversity in your approach. Effective communication starts with understanding that not all content suits all readers. Segmenting your email list allows you to send targeted messages that are pertinent to each subgroup’s unique needs and position in the buyer’s journey, thereby enhancing relevance and reducing perceived pressure.

Segmenting your list is a GREAT way to understand them and refine your offers. No one wants to receive content that isn't relevant to them (which will affect your unsubscribe rate) But if you segment your audience and personalize what each segment receives then you're much more likely to have better data and more engagement because it's specific Also, be yourself. If your "hard selling" tone feels like a different person than the rest of your emails then that can be pretty jarring

Offer them something for free. Give value before you ask for something in return. It's about what you can do for your customers not about what your customers can do for you.

Easy: don't ask for marriage on the first date. ???? I like to see email marketing through the lens of marriage and relationships. That said, do you feel it's an effective strategy to ask for marriage on the first date? Well, it is a decent strategy - if you desire to be ghosted ?? If you don't want your brand to come off as sleazy and pushy, it's important to have built in nurturing sequences in your marketing automation that helps your ideal customers to know, like, and trust you. If you have email sequences and lead with value so much to the point where your readers reach out to YOU to buy, you've done your job as an email marketer well. Conversions will happen when you first care about building a relationship with your readers. ??

Your message to a loyal customer should differ from the one you send to a newcomer. Tailoring your emails this way shows you understand and value each recipient's unique relationship with your brand. Start by grouping your contacts—maybe by purchase history, interests, or how they found you. This small step can dramatically increase your emails' relevance and welcome rate. Plus, it keeps you far from the dreaded spam folder.

AI Personalization. WHY - If the email looks like its written for a single person, the recipient WILL respond or act on the CTA HOW - 1. Sit down and have a look at the information you have available in the list. 2. Bring in understanding about industry to come up with clever angles based on the information from the first step. 3. Use gpt-for-sheets to enrich your whole list with he AI output. Example for emailing Real Estate Agents. 1. Listing address 2. They research before posting a listing. 3. AI -> Please find me the closest 4+ star restaurant to (address). RESULTS = Oh btw, (name) do you have and dish recommendations for (restaurant output)? It's a 2min walk from your listing at 123road.

If you want to truly personalize your messages, then segmentation is key. Group your recipients by the topics of their interest, and only send the relevant updates to each group. When subscribers see you care about the content they receive, they will never consider your emails spammy or pushy.

This is especially true if you are sending cold emails or have just started a relationship with your lead. You can use LinkedIn to find info about your customer, or if they just bought their 1st product from you send the email personalized to that product and how it will benefit them.

Personalization IS NOT inserting the recipients' name. Personalization is to tailor the content/product/offer in combination with the right message to the needs of your audience. How can you find that out? ? Survey your audience ? Ask questions in opt-in forms ? Send surveys ? Add quizzes to your website ? Know your website analytics ? Hang out where your audience hangs out and get to know them like you know your best friend And then --> create segments based on that information and tailor everything else around it. ??

This is actually quite simple, stick to one thing. One Angle, One Topic, One Benefit. Whatever you are updating about, ONE. Test them against each other, see which one performs best and stick with that one. With this the expression "less is more" is truer than ever

Use lots of (white) space between sentences or paragraphs. Make it as easy on the eyes as you can. They will skim it but still absorb your message.

Your emails should be less than 250 words and can include images, color, or font styling to ensure they are easy to read. Remember, people need more time to read a novel in their inbox. Keep it brief and impactful, and save the epic tales for your next family gathering. Your readers will thank you for it – and maybe even read to the end!

Writing a good email without a clear CTA is like winning the lottery but not telling them where to send the money. In the setting of a cold email, you want to be using "interest" based CTA's instead of "meeting based" Reason being that your prospects are decision makers, with limited time. Do they want to spend that time with a random person in their email inbox even if they said they can do xyz? probably not. Interest on the other side doesn't have a "cap" on it, its unlimited. This allows you to filter our prospects that are worth nurturing/following up with. Secret: Even if you ask for interest, most people say yes because you weren't asking for time, then go on to invite you to a meeting because thats what they are used to.

If you don't use a clear CTA, then what is the point of even bothering to send an email? You want their business so if the CTA isn't clear they won't be tempted to buy. Also, it works well to add a CTA in a P.S.

Giving subscribers an option to quit the email list is essential to a good sender's reputation. However, with such email campaigns as crucial updates, it can be painful enough to let your recipients go. Thus, if you want your customers and prospects to stay informed about your news respectfully, give them different options on how they can receive your messages: allow them to manage the frequency of emails they get, invite them to subscribe to your socials, and follow the novelties there, make a special section on your website where they can find information on the updates whenever they need it, etc.

Unsub links are great but often gives away the vibe its a marketing email and has been sent to thousands of people (giving them in particular no reason to respond) so personally I prefer to add a P.S. line just saying "If it isn't relevant to you, let me know and I wont email you again :)" Standing out is key too, so be creative with your P.S. lines if your audience don't mind a bit of humor :)

Exploring beyond the usual tactics, why not consider the psychological impact of your email timing? The cognitive load on your recipients varies throughout the day and week. Strategically timing your emails to match when they are most likely receptive—not just when they are likely to open them—could significantly enhance engagement and reduce the perception of being pushy or spammy.

In my experience, this boils down to key first principals. First, your focus should be to qualify the prospect, Do they have a problem we can solve? If the answer is yes, then it comes down to mentality and personal values. I fall in love with the problems our clients are trying to solve. They are the hero. By being a partner in the effort to solve problems, not a sales person pushing a solution, I can communicate authentically without being overly self conscious.