Why Do I Care? ON24 Email Review

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The following email popped up in my inbox the other day:

I knew it was prime for a “review” post because I immediately had a number of questions that I wanted answered. First, I wondered if they had the rights to call anything “_ for Dummies”. Do the “for dummies” guys know about this webinar?

Second, I was intrigued by a webinar on hosting webinars. It was kind of like a thought I had awhile back on starting an email marketing class delivered via email.

The email itself is strong. Well composed, visually simplistic, and detailed with great calls to action. But the final question remained, how’d they get my name?

I seem like someone who should be getting this email. It’s for marketers. Surely they made the decision to include me. But I never signed up for updates from ON24, and this is my introduction to their promo emails.

And while I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world to send a cold email to someone whose name you added to your list, I do think there is a need for introduction. Segment your first time recipients and tell me why you thought I needed to see this. Prove to me that there is value in being a subscriber, and let me unsubscribe right away if I disagree.

Overall Grade = D for Don’t send to me anymore!

Images Done Right: Eventbrite Email Review

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I’ve mentioned in posts past that one of the questionable things about email marketing is how and when to use images instead of straight text. Most email providers, like Gmail and Yahoo, now block images from senders until you explicitly approve them. Which means that if you use images, your audience might see emails that don’t look the way you intended them to look.

The other day I received the email below from Eventbrite:

You can see that there are images in the email that are blocked from view. But at the same time, the message still gets across. This combination of text and images is an important one. Though I don’t get the same impression as others who may see the images when they open the email, I still get the main point. The value of the email still comes across.

And here is the email once I clicked “display images below”:

Well done Eventbrite.

Overall Grade = A.

Don’t Turn Me Off: Metro Email Review

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I’ve been asked the question many times. What’s the worst thing you can do as an email marketer?

I don’t know what would be the worst possible thing you could do in email marketing is. I do know that there are a lot of companies doing very poorly. I do know that there a lot of things you can do that are very negative. Probably the worst thing you can do is avoid it.

But Metro attempted to prove that theory wrong with a recent email they sent me. It needs no introduction or lead up. Here is the email I saw when I clicked to open it:

If I don’t allow images, this is what I see. This is what everyone on their list sees first, unless they’ve agreed to see images before. Sure, Gmail is a pain in the ass when it comes to email marketing, because you are forced to accept all images. But that means marketers need to include text based information in their emails so it does not look THIS BAD.

And you know what makes it worse? It’s the way the email looks after I accept images:

It’s great. It’s a powerful, meaningful email that I am interested in. Why risk losing me at first sight?

Come on, Metro.

Grade = F, for Fix it.