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Email Marketing

When higher open rates could kill a business

If you’re not careful, high open rates (for the wrong reasons) could kill a business. 

Sounds dramatic, right?

Hear me out. 

This story explains how.

Many years ago, an old friend texted me out of the blue.

They were excited to catch up and see me again.

So I visited.

But when I arrived, something was off.

First, many other friends were invited. (She didn’t tell me that. I thought she contacted me specifically.)

Second, everyone sat on the couch in silence, not standing around chatting.

Third, I realized it wasn’t a general catch-up, a barbecue, or a what-have-you-been-up-to-for-the-last-10-years get-together.

It was a bait-and-switch tactic.

It was a ploy for a multi-level marketing company.

This person saw me as a prospect, a dollar sign.

Someone they could sell.

I felt used and dirty.

And I left fuming. 

What does this have to do with open rates?

Too many marketers use manipulative tactics to get the highest open rates possible.

Subject lines like…

  • Re: (Only to find out it’s not a real reply when they open it).
  • Sorry, the XYZ program is closed. (Only to find out it closes tonight when they open it.)

I don’t think there’s anything illegal about these tactics. 

And they will get higher open rates… in the short term.

But it becomes a downward spiral that could kill the business.

Here’s the scenario:

  1. The subject line gets a subscriber curious and boosts your open rate.
  2. The mismatch in content erodes trust.
  1. If this continues, the subscriber, and many others, unsubscribes and engagement tanks.
  1. Negative feedback damages reputation.
  1. Spam reports by subscribers hurt email deliverability.
  1. Lost trust leads to declining sales and revenue.
  1. Dissatisfaction diverts resources to damage control.
  1. The business must spend more to acquire a customer to sell through distrust.
  1. They can’t afford to acquire customers at a profit.
  1. They shut the business down or give up.

Instead, write accurate subject lines that are fulfilled in the email.

In a weird irony, if you use accurate subject lines and provide genuinely useful content, you’ll get higher open rates.

So don’t be the person who contacts their friend only to sell them into a multi-level marketing scheme. 

Write accurate subject lines.

– EE