Check Under the Hood of Your Email Automation Engines

One of the best parts of any enterprise-scale email service provider is the opportunity to think through communications a customer or constituent should receive, and to add in automations wherever you can. To recall an oft-quoted Ron Popeil infomercial, this gives you the opportunity to “just set it and forget it.”

Though we would never truly recommend that you “forget” your automations, the concept does allow the over-worked marketer the opportunity to spend time on other parts of the role that can’t be so easily automated.

Due to the global pandemic, it’s definitely a good time to review your automations. Many of the images and words that previously evoked feel-good, happy thoughts and feelings now may evoke disgust, fear, anger, or dread. For a brand, university, or nonprofit, that can read as a, “What were they thinking?” in the inbox.

First, review any images in your outbound automated email campaigns. Look for images where people are not socially distanced, large crowds, or friends close together. Consider replacing them with pictures where people are further apart or masked. Look for images of touching, handshakes, or close-talking that could also make viewers uncomfortable. Your general litmus test should be: Would this image be accompanying a headline in the newspaper about how we should or shouldn’t behave in these times?

Email Automation, Attain Partners

Second, review your copy and consider the messaging and tone. For many people, this is a time of high anxiety, job loss, and depression. Ensure that your copy is helping to alleviate these potential concerns and not evoke them. Text that includes messaging about taking vacations, dining out, and visiting with friends can feel especially tone-deaf during this time. In fact, it may better serve your needs to write about your current experience—Is your daughter walking into your Zoom frame every five minutes? Is your husband loudly talking on his Teams call while you are giving a presentation? Does your dog suddenly freak out when the locusts whack into the window? If you live it, feel free to use it—it’s real!