Consider the subject line on the latest version of the Nigerian spam email that reached my inbox recently: "Trust and Confidence."
I laughed, of course; why would I have trust and confidence in an unsolicited email from a stranger asking me to wire him thousands of dollars?
But legitimate online marketers often forget that just saying "trust me" isn't enough to inspire email subscribers to have enough confidence in your emails to open and act on them the way you want. What's worse, the triple whammy of spam, viruses, and fraud that has eroded consumer trust in email now shows signs of spreading to mobile and social channels, as hackers and spammers become savvier in reaching new media.
Sending messages across more than one communication channel has its benefits: You reach a wider audience, have more ways to interact with your customers, and can amplify your message beyond a single channel. So, with customers on their guard and more cautious about incoming messages, how do you differentiate to build a relationship of customer trust across all channels?
Trust-building and trust-maintenance rules still apply as you expand your email campaigns into social and mobile media. Even more importantly, make sure that email, social, and mobile messages sing the same tune.
As a marketer, you would hate to lose a valued email customer over a bad search experience or misdirected mobile message. These strategies help you tell a cohesive, and ultimately more trustworthy, story:
1. Start building trust with email.
A trustworthy email program tells subscribers that getting your email is an informed choice they've actively made, not a mistake they've gotten tricked into.
Begin with a transparent opt-in process. Sell your email program and website registration in the most glowing terms, but give prospects the final say-so whether to sign up. A trustworthy opt-in program has these hallmarks:
- No prechecked box on the opt-in form
- Clear statements about content, format, and frequency
- Plain-language terms of service and privacy policy
- Minimum single opt-in; double opt-in preferred
- Welcome email sent on confirmation, restating subscription details, link to privacy policy or TOS, and detailed contact information
Next, assess your design and functionality. Surveys show email consumers feel pretty confident that they can tell the difference between spam and legit email right in the inbox. If your emails routinely generate enough spam complaints to affect deliverability, it's time to redesign.
These elements build trust in your email:
- Instant inbox recognition, with the brand, company, or newsletter name in the "from" field (never a person's name or email address) or the subject line, or both
- Relevant content with key messages in text, which displays clearly with or without images, in the full email or just the preview pane
- No single large image that's likely to be blocked
- No bad code, "red X" images, or broken links, especially the unsubscribe link
- Detailed contact information, with names, email addresses, telephone numbers, and postal addresses
- Subscription-management information including the subscribed email address
- Effective monitoring of all mailboxes associated with your email program for questions, comments, criticisms, and unsubscribes sent to "unofficial" addresses
- Prompt response to email contacts
2. Extend trust to mobile devices.
Build trust by giving subscribers a choice as to how they want to be contacted -- email or SMS. If you haven't thought about having a mobile component, now's the time. The credibility you've earned with other channels translates to results with the handheld:
- Post your opt-in mobile SMS text on your landing pages to grow your mobile prospects.
- Use short, targeted SMS texts to reach wider audiences and those on the go.
- Use personalized short codes for SMS text replies.
- Keep messages highly relevant and concise.
- Update content regularly based on response rates.
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