Recall Email – What To Do if You Send a Mass Email With An Error!

Recall Email – What do you do When you Realize You’ve Made an Error? (ouch)
Don’t you just hate the sinking feeling you get when you’ve just sent out your latest mass email only to realize you’ve made an error, sent it to the wrong mailing list or added the wrong offer details and you need to do a recall email. We all make an error from time to time. When it comes to email marketing, everyone does it; when this happens, it is important to breathe and not fright.
Most people think they have to say sorry immediately, but depending on the error and the audience, you may want to wait. If too many emails are sent at the same time, the subscription cancellation fee may be activated. We’ve all been there, but it’s not the end of the world (although your boss will probably think it is). Everyone makes an error, but it’s how you deal with them that matters, putting things right when they go wrong
- Do you: Hide and hope no one notices?
- Correct it quickly and re-send without an apology and hope no one notices? Or,
- Hold your hands up, admit your mistake, say sorry and make it up to your customers?
Usually, mistakes won’t lose your customers, but how you deal with them will. Admitting you got it wrong and showing you’re willing to do whatever it takes to put it right will help you retain customers.
Avoiding Mistakes in the First Place!
Prevention is always better than cure, so here are a few ideas to help prevent those error happening in the first place.
1. Trusted checkers: Before you send out your email, make sure you have a group of people you trust to look through it first. Send them a copy for them to proofread and to test the links. This should flag up any problems before you send it out to your customer list.
2. Preview: Some email software allows you to preview your email before sending. This will help you make sure looks right.
3. Don’t be in such a hurry: If you leave it to the last minute you will make mistakes.
4. Always plan your email well ahead of its broadcast date: This will give you plenty of time to write it and check it as you will probably need to write several drafts until you hit on the right one because it’s important to make sure your message is spot on.
Email marketing is a very powerful tool. Whether you decide to write them yourself in-house or work with a copywriter, it’s essential the above steps are followed to make sure your mass emails are error free.
Here are Steps to Follow if you’ve Made an Error and Need to Recall Email
Evaluate:
Before doing anything, take a moment to see the implications of the error. Here are some questions to ask before taking action:
- What is the size of the mailing list?
- What is the open rate and clicks?
You may have already detected the error and can send a sequence with minimal impact – no need to do an email recall. Then asks:
- What is the size of the error?
- How will this affect your business?
Did you make a misprint or a price mistake or did you announce the wrong date for an event? Minor typographical, spelling or coding errors are unlikely to do much, except for some embarrassing situations or people reporting the error. In this case, submitting a follow-up could be a problem for your recipients: save the correction for the next email or newsletter you send. A mistake in the price or an incorrect date could have a significant impact on your business or organization, it is imperative to send a follow-up email.
Measure the Impact:
Once you’ve decided what your plan is and taken action, watch how things have ended. The reports in your emails give you an idea of how your recipients responded to the error: Track your openings and clicks: Do you have a normal opening rate for your emails? Has that changed because of the error? Look at the tags: Are they where I expected them to be? Or are they higher or lower? Check the cancellation rate of the subscription: We hope that everything you have done remains low, but monitor it . Compare the original and follow-up emails and compare the statistics before a recall email.
Consider using the pre-header for correction information:
Link error: The links can be corrected in the reporting area of your account. If you misclassify a URL in the copy it cannot be changed, but the underlying link can do that. At least those who click go to the right page. Since your report indicates how many clicks you have and which links have been selected, consider sending only those who clicked on the wrong link instead of the entire list.
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