Do you wonder what Emily Post would think of today’s social media world? Do you know who Emily Post is?
The Emily Post Institute offers the simplest answer – “…her name is synonymous with manners and etiquette.” The Institute is a fifth generation family business promoting etiquette offering advice such as the Top Ten Email Manners.
Number 1 on the Top 10 Email Manners list is: Always respond.
But I have to believe even Emily Post would agree some situations deserve no response. Like those annoying, really stupid marketing emails that plague us all. Although Emily would probably find a less offensive description. 😉
Stupid Marketing Emails
Stupid marketing starts with lazy marketing efforts but goes beyond that. Besides an obvious lack of research, the sender is relentless in sending follow-ups. If the perpetrator spent even a small amount of that time learning about your business, they would save everyone a lot of time.
The following are examples of the many emails assaulting my inbox each day. The annoying emails tend to fall into one (or more) of the following 3 categories.
- Clueless Marketing demonstrates how little the sender knows about your business. Typically, that’s because of the next category.
- Lazy Marketing is such a huge category, it earned its own post here.
- Tag-team Marketing qualifies as one of the stupidest marketing tricks out there (in my book anyway).
The following are copies of emails I received numerous times. Only the names of the individuals or the companies have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.
Clueless Marketing
This example is from a company that specializes in commercial repainting. Why my business was targeted is the epitome of cluelessness. It would not take much research to determine I am NOT an owner of a warehouse, distribution center, etc.
Lazy Marketing
Lazy marketing is the root of most stupid marketing. Let the email recipient figure out if they are the right target for what you’re selling. Yeah, that’s smart marketing *dripping in sarcasm.*
Tag-team Marketing
This tactic is a fairly new one, at least to me. One of the most annoying parts of stupid marketing is no matter what you do – Unsubscribe – say no – ignore emails – the sender continuously bombards you with follow-ups.
Taking annoying to new heights is the email I call tag-team marketing. See the example below.
The #1 Reason Not to Respond
Those who know me best, know I am a huge proponent of acknowledging communication. And I am old enough to both know and appreciate the advice of Emily Post. I used to respond – always – offering the sender a reason.
Now I don’t bother.
The number one reason for NOT responding to stupid marketing is it’s a waste of my time.
- If I unsubscribe, they ignore it.
- When I explain how they are barking up the wrong tree, they go silent (no apology, no thanks for letting me know – nothing).
- Their lack of response annoys me more and I wish I just shoved their emails into the junk folder it belongs in.
What about you? Do you still respond to these emails? And what other kinds of stupid marketing have you seen? Share your thoughts in Comments.
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I haven’t given a thought to all the differences in horrible marketing letters I receive; I just call it spam marketing and move on. About 85% of the time those emails don’t have my name on them, and almost all of the rest obviously haven’t visited either my website, my blog or my LinkedIn profile to even know what it is I do. It must be cheap to throw paint on the wall to see what sticks than figuring out who actually hopes might be a client some day.
It may be cheap, Mitch, but I cannot imagine it’s very effective. But then you wonder if it doesn’t work, why keep doing it? Your approach to calling it spam marketing and moving on is much more effective. 😉