As mentioned in passing in this week's Masters in Marketing (which is a great email newsletter that you should subscribe to), I'm very wary of open field personalization.
It's an example of "garbage in, garbage out." Maybe another name for it would be the "Dear Jerkwad Dilemma."
Once upon a time, I helped to design a whole server and process to allow for double opt-in email registrations that, when completed, let a user download a customer's trial software package. Think of it like this: Give us your email address, and we'll email you the download link to the 30 day version of FantasticWareX. We're also going to send you a few emails along the way, asking you to consider buying the full version.
Call "giving us your email address" the price of the free trial. I didn't have any ethical problem with it, because it was super clearly explained at every step, what was going on. We had a huge problem with people trying to put garbage in the forms, but the double opt-in email verification stopped that. No real email, no download link.
We also had optional fields that could be enabled for different products. First name, last name, favorite color, whatever. These optional fields could then be used in the followup email marketing messages.
At your own risk.
Because WOWWWW, people fill those fields with offensive garbage. And if they dutifully share their name as "Jerk Wad," which they often did, or worse, which they also often did, the company ends up sending them followup emails that open with "DEAR JERK WAD,". People got mad. People sent spam complaints. People replied with insults. So many replies with insults.
It was ... even worse than you think, until we implemented a profanity filter.
Was it our fault? No. The user entered what they wanted into the field. It was their choice. Their garbage in, their garbage out.
Did it make the sender look bad? Oh god, yes. Did you want your brand associated with emails that say "DEAR JERK WAD," or worse?
So be careful when utilizing simple email personalization. Verify addresses, or tie it to e-commerce. They're less likely to use garbage names when using a credit card or completing a double opt-in. Since the credit card owner's name has to match, that was a great way to stop the silliness.
And you're going to need an extra-strong profanity filter. Don't skimp on this one. Or really, don't aim for simple personalization at all, unless you're really confident enough to trust your subscriber base to give out only their own email addresses and only their real names.
As mentioned in passing in this week's Masters in Marketing (which is a great email newsletter that you should subscribe to), I'm very wary of open field personalization.
It's an example of "garbage in, garbage out." Maybe another name for it would be the "Dear Jerkwad Dilemma."
Once upon a time, I helped to design a whole server and process to allow for double opt-in email registrations that, when completed, let a user download a customer's trial software package. Think of it like this: Give us your email address, and we'll email you the download link to the 30 day version of FantasticWareX. We're also going to send you a few emails along the way, asking you to consider buying the full version.
Call "giving us your email address" the price of the free trial. I didn't have any ethical problem with it, because it was super clearly explained at every step, what was going on. We had a huge problem with people trying to put garbage in the forms, but the double opt-in email verification stopped that. No real email, no download link.
We also had optional fields that could be enabled for different products. First name, last name, favorite color, whatever. These optional fields could then be used in the followup email marketing messages.
At your own risk.
Because WOWWWW, people fill those fields with offensive garbage. And if they dutifully share their name as "Jerk Wad," which they often did, or worse, which they also often did, the company ends up sending them followup emails that open with "DEAR JERK WAD,". People got mad. People sent spam complaints. People replied with insults. So many replies with insults.
It was ... even worse than you think, until we implemented a profanity filter.
Was it our fault? No. The user entered what they wanted into the field. It was their choice. Their garbage in, their garbage out.
Did it make the sender look bad? Oh god, yes. Did you want your brand associated with emails that say "DEAR JERK WAD," or worse?
So be careful when utilizing simple email personalization. Verify addresses, or tie it to e-commerce. They're less likely to use garbage names when using a credit card or completing a double opt-in. Since the credit card owner's name has to match, that was a great way to stop the silliness.
And you're going to need an extra-strong profanity filter. Don't skimp on this one. Or really, don't aim for simple personalization at all, unless you're really confident enough to trust your subscriber base to give out only their own email addresses and only their real names.
Instead, focus on truly personal content. Hubspot's Rachel Leist shares more modern personalization standards and how you can better reach those updated recipient expectations using A.I.
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