I glanced away from a dazzling fireworks show to see whether a friend had responded to my text. That’s when I saw the message below.
Apparently, my trial of Patterny was due to expire on New Year’s Eve. And the email notification was a reminder - not just about the expiration, but also about how subject lines and timing make all the difference when it comes to email marketing.
In this case, I’d already given Pattenry a try and decided against it. But had I been on the fence, seeing this negative email appear at 10pm in the midst of a fun New Year’s Eve could have made the decision for me.
What if Patterny had skipped the 10pm New Years Eve email message and opted instead for a mid-morning email on Jan 2, with an inviting subject line such as, “How was your Patterny trial, Erin?”
I may have been motivated to open that email and offer feedback - an interaction that would have been another opportunity for them to win me over.
Some advice, based on this experience:
Never drop a dead end in your prospect’s lap — Even a cancellation can be presented as an invitation with the right wording.
Avoid times of day that will lump you with other automated emails, and time your email so that the prospect is likely to be able to act on it,
If you’ve gotta send non-urgent negative messages, consider suppressing them on holidays. (Yes, you might need to manage this individually by country.)
Have you learned any similar best practices in using email to market a product?