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This week we tackle mailing lists. We ask questions like, “Is a mailing list a good idea for me?” “What do you hope to accomplish with it?” It’s best to have goals in mind, be they promotional, to entertain, or whatever. Think of who are the types of people you want to reach. Are they customers? People who like your art?
Proper etiquette
ALWAYS let the user opt into your list, never add them without their permission.
ALWAYS let the user opt out and unsubscribe is they no longer wish to receive notifications from you.
ALWAYS use blind carbon copy when sending out your lists. Nobody needs to find out who everybody else on the list is.
DON’T over do it. Not everybody wants a daily email blast from you.
DO make your lists personal and engaging. Nobody wants to read boring boilerplate. Give them a reason to stay subscribed and keep reading.
DO offer incentives like early notification of sales, discount codes, previews, and things users won’t see if they’re not subscribed.
DO let your users know what they stand to gain by signing up for your list, what special things you’re offering to subscribers, etc.
Things to remember
Some email systems cap the number of mass emails you can send out at a time, meaning you may need to send out batches for each individual issue of your news letter.
It’s very easy for users to label you spam and get you into trouble if you send the wrong thing to the wrong person. Make sure you’re only sending to people who asked to hear from you and have an easy unsubscribe link to find.
Not everybody is going to enable images in their inbox so be aware of the formatting when you send your email out that it has to be understandable with images disabled.
Services to use
WordPress plugins