Most can agree that we receive way too many emails in the
course of a day. What’s more maddening, besides the increasing amount of spam
(that’s another post), is the constant barrage of emails from a single source,
i.e., the vendor that sends daily updates on products and services, or the
e-letter that comes in 2-3 times a day with the “latest news.”
Guess you can tell I’m on a bit of tirade today because
quite frankly, I’ve have enough of one particular e-letter, which is a shame because
it is a great resource. The problem is that the sender distributes at least 3
emails per day: the early edition, the afternoon edition, and event promos. I
find myself deleting them as each comes in, which unfortunately means that I
while I’m ignoring them, I could also be missing out.
As associations, we are often on the other end of this
barrage. While we try to find that sweet spot of emails, we sometime are guilty
as charged. For example, a member of one of our clients sent the following note
after a particular promo push…
Four emails about XXXX
on one day, after I told the first person I had a required day-long work
meeting the same date and now an email asking me to like you on FB when I
already do. “The Chapter” isn’t “showing me that you know me.”
Now granted in this case at least one of the emails this
member received was a personal invite, but the question still remains…what did
we gain with this barrage of emails, and more importantly, what did we lose? BTW:
I love the last part about not “showing that you know me.” A lesson we need to
learn.
In another case, a board member had unsubscribed from our e-letter on a day when she was feeling particularly barraged from outside sources. She later confessed after complaining that she had not seen a particular e-letter we were referring to, and we explained it was because she had unsubscribed.
So while it’s important to be a resource for members, how
much is too much? It’s something we need to think about before we hit that send
button next time. Are we overloading our members with emails and information?
Do our emails say the same thing over and over? And how can we combat this
“email overload” so as to not alienate our members, yet deliver important and
relevant information.
What do you think? How much email does it take till our
members completely zone out?
Side Note: I just love
that little monkey on MailChimp that is sweating bullets while hovering over
the send button. Know just how he feels!