 It happened to me recently when I tried to change my address for an e-newsletter I really wanted to keep:
* I typed in my email address (because it didn't appear in the form when I clicked the newsletter's "change address" link)
* I typed in my account password, or at least the one I think I signed up with
* I clicked "submit"
* I was returned a " Failed to Change Email Address" message
Um, okay. Now what? The message, while technically accurate, didn't tell what I had done wrong, how to fix it or who to contact for help.
So, I started over:
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I typed in my email address
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I typed in another shot at the password
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I clicked "submit"
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I again was returned a "Failed to Change Email Address" message
Now, I was mad. I went back to the login page and looked for the link that would help me recover my user name and password. No link! So, I tried a third password, only to again receive:
"Failed to Change Email Address."
I gave up and decided just to end it all and unsubscribe. Then, I glanced in my inbox, and surprise, surprise, there was an email from the newsletter publisher: "Thank you for updating your personal information." So, it worked, but not without aggravation coupled with lack of information.
And that's the lesson email marketers need to remember. Only about half of your email program is the content you mail out, whether it's sales alerts, e-newsletters or the joke of the day. Equally as important is your email subscriber's transactional experience.
How you handle requests or resolve problems shapes the way your email subscriber feels about you and can affect whether he or she continues the relationship, breaks it off via unsubscribing or takes the easy way out and lodges a protest by clicking the report-spam button the next time the email shows up.
Yes, Web pages and email messages are built by designers and coders who understand the technical language of coding. "Failed to change email address" is the logical result when the user enters incorrect data.
For the user, however, it's more than useless. As I noted above, it doesn't help him or her accomplish the task. It just drops the ball.
A day spent on the tech-support desk will show you how unfamiliar or scared off by technology most of your email subscribers are. So, put a human face on your interactions with them.
Audit every user-facing page you can find on your Web site, especially interior pages like confirmations and error pages. Does the page look or sound like a welter of tech-speak? Or does it sound like conversation that helps the user solve a problem or feel good about the choices he just made?
Not only will you make your Web site and email program more user-friendly, but you can also do your Marketing 101 due diligence like building your brand and reinforcing your value proposition.
3 Quick Tech-Speak Makeovers
1. Error pages
This is most likely where your users will confront pure tech-speak, because technical failures trigger their appearance. Still, the people most likely to be looking at them will be users who have no idea they messed up until they see the error page.
Be as specific as you can about what went wrong, and offer either a solution or someone to contact.
Bad: "Failed to change email address."
Good: "We're sorry, but we were unable to change your email address as you requested because you entered the wrong login information" (or "entered the incorrect password"/"entered the wrong user name" if your system can detect the culprit).
"Click here to have your login information emailed to you. If you are certain you entered the correct information, report the problem here." (Of course, you need to have someone patrolling those reports, too.)
2. Data-entry buttons
What do yours say? Unless you operate a bondage Web site, "submit" probably doesn't reinforce your brand image or convey the proper value proposition. Label the buttons either with the actions you want users to take or with a short message explaining the benefits of clicking.
Bad: "Submit." "Enter." "Click here."
Good: "Subscribe Here," "Change Address," "Buy Now!," "Sign up now for email-only offers."
3. Confirmations
When you execute an action, you get either an error message or a confirmation that the execution succeeded. That's not enough information in the real world, however.
Your confirmation should sound warm and reassuring in keeping with your site's language, style or "feel." You want users to feel excited that they signed up or confident that their changes, whether updates or unsubscribes, will be handled correctly.
Bad: "Successfully subscribed to XYZ Newsletter."
Better: "Thank you for subscribing to XYZ Newsletter. Your first issue will be emailed soon. Click here to fill out a personal profile so we can send you the information you most want to receive. Read our privacy policy here."
Even better: "Thanks for subscribing! You have signed up to receive the XYZ weekly newsletter, news bulletins and information about the XYZ Company.
"If this information is incorrect or if you would like to modify your subscription, click here to change it on your personal profile page.
"To read our current issue now, click here.
"We send our mailings from '
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
.' Please add this address to your contact list or address book to be sure the newsletter arrives in your inbox and not your spam or bulk-mail folder.
"We will use your address only to send you the mailings you requested and to communicate with you about your subscription. For more details, read our privacy policy here.
"If you have any questions, or if you encountered any problems while subscribing, contact Customer Service here."
Sure, that's a lot more information. But at such a tender stage of your subscriber relationship, it either starts things off right or keeps your current email subscribers happy that they joined up with you.
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About the Author
Wendy Roth is senior manager of training services for Lyris. She works closely with marketing professionals to help them use Lyris' solutions to achieve their highest online marketing objectives, and she collaborates with product development to ensure Lyris' products are based on marketers' changing needs. This article was originally published on iMedia Connection.
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