Inconsistent emailing leads to subscribers ignoring your email

I took some time to clean out my email folders yesterday while automated tests were running for Repeat Customer Insights. Mostly I was archiving and unsubscribing from old emails and senders that I don't read anymore.

A fast way I do this is to sort by the sender and then scan through their emails.

When did I last read them?

Are they still interesting?

Are they worth staying subscribed?

One company stood out to me, and not in a good way.

As I went through their emails I saw they were really inconsistent. Weeks and months would go by without an email and then it would start back up.

That right there is a problem with their email marketing but alone, it's not a big deal if they are still interesting and useful.

Few minutes later I saw them again in another batch of emails.

Same company, but different email address.

And again.

And again.

Each time with gaps in their sending.

What was going on was that this company kept switching their sending email address, seemingly randomly. It wasn't a "we were using X and now we're using Y", the changes were interleaved. Almost as if the sender made mistakes while sending the emails and never noticed.

Thinking back, I also remember a lot of "lost" emails or gaps in the content when I read their emails in the past. They probably sent them out with a different email address.

By splitting their emails like that, the company appeared flaky and inconsistent. The exact perceptions to avoid with email marketing.

Interest. Value. Consistency.

These are the principles to email marketing. When you have all three you'll stand out from the crowd and actually get your emails opened and acted on.

Miss one and your emails will be less effective. Miss two and your subscribers aren't going to care and unsubscribe.

Eric Davis