How to Email

You would think that we don't need to teach people how to use email.
But since it is a rather new form of communication, compared to regular mail (remember typewriters?), not everyone is aware of some of the common courtesies.

One, is don't spam.

The day of forwarding funny stories and cartoons is over.
Most of us are too busy to read them. The few that I get, about 2 a month, are okay.

But speaking of spam, if you are using email to reach out to customers, there are some rules to follow.

In my new role of Vice President of Communications for our local Advertising Federation, I am now responsible for overseeing our email and direct mail list.

So here's some advice from Seth Godin for you and me:

If you don't want to get email

...don't send email.

If you send a note to 100 or 1000 customers/clients/prospects/shippers/parents (whatever), be sure to give people a way to reply! I think this is especially important for small organizations or small subsets of lists... Amazon and eBay and others get a bit of a pass.

If it's important enough for you to send to me, it may be important enough for me to write back.

I know it's horribly expensive and inconvenient to work your way through the replies, but aren't the replies exactly what you need to see? What an opportunity.

Email is medium all onto itself. It's the only medium where the human voice appears the same whether it's 'live' or 'recorded' and where there's an expectation that all interactions are two-way.

Here's what you do:

1. Send the email to your permission list, an announcement that's anticipated, personal and relevant.

2. Set up a "reply to" that's a different address.

3. In the email, at the bottom, give people a web address where they can go to give feedback, or give them an email they can write to that will be read by a real person.

4. If they hit reply, the replyto will automatically send the note to the right person.

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