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Create Subscriber Expectations Over Time

Posted by Justin Premick

This is #3 in series of posts on subscriber expectations. Previous articles here: Part 1, Part 2.

As discussed recently, properly setting expectations for subscribers before they sign up and immediately after they do so helps you deliver the kind of better experience that leads to more responsive, more deliverable email marketing campaigns.

But that subscriber experience doesn’t occur in just a single moment. And expectations can change over time.

How do you make sure the expectations you worked so hard to set in your opt-in form and on your thank you page don’t fade after subscribers have been on your list for a while?

Create Subscriber Expectations Over The Life Of The Email Relationship

Explicitly setting expectations for new subscribers immediately before and after they join your list goes a long way toward making them responsive subscribers.

But it’s not all there is to it.

As email marketers, part—a big part—of the reason we try to create subscriber expectations is that we also want to create subscriber habits.

We want subscribers to expect certain things about our emails because when they do, and when we meet those expectations, subscribers tend to treat our emails a certain way. Namely, they:

• Open our emails
• Click on links in them
• Share them with others and
• Order products from them

Create The Right Subscriber Habits By Helping Them Set Their Own Expectations

After subscribers begin to get emails from us, we continue to create expectations – whether we try to or not.

We’re no longer only creating them explicitly. Rather, we also begin to build implicit expectations in our subscribers’ minds about what they should do with our emails.

Here’s an example of what I mean by that:

• When a would-be subscriber sees your opt-in form, they don’t know whether they should subscribe unless you explicitly tell them, “this is what you’ll get if you subscribe, here’s why it’s good for you.” They can then make a decision based on that explicit expectation.
• On the other hand, once they sign up, you won’t get far just explicitly telling them “hey, open our emails when you get them!” (You can try, but good luck browbeating subscribers into reading.)

To get your subscribers to continue opening your emails and clicking links over time, simply allow them to create their own implicit expectation: “hey, I’d better open and read this email when I get it because there’s something really valuable and timely in here for me.”

In short, you condition people to do what you want with your emails, rather than just telling them to do so.

“Conditioning” Subscribers? You Mean Like Mind Control? Subliminal Messaging? (That Sounds Sleazy…)

Conditioning does sound sleazy, doesn’t it?

Perhaps you think I’m talking about hypnotizing subscribers with gold watches or goofy-looking spirally glasses, or using subliminal messaging to get them to open your emails and buy your products.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let’s take a quick look at the definition of conditioning:

Conditioning – to modify so that an act or response previously associated with one stimulus becomes associated with another

Source: Merriam-Webster.com

So, in effect, what we’re looking to do is to get subscribers to respond to something (our emails) in the same way they responded to something else (say, our other previous emails).

Put another way, we want people who open our email, click a link, visit our website, etc. to do so again when they get another email from us.

We want them to say “hey, I’d better open and read this email” for as many of our emails as possible. Nothing sleazy about that.

So how do we do it?

Consistency Can Help You Condition Subscribers

Consistency comes into play here (see this 2006 post on expectations for some of my original ideas on expectations and consistency).

• Consistency helps because it makes it easier for subscribers to recognize your emails in the inbox.

  If someone knows you send from a given name and address, and tend to send on certain days or at certain frequencies, they’re likely to be far more receptive to your emails.

• It can also teach people to click through to your website.

  For example, if subscribers come to know that your emails contain 2-3 “teaser” paragraphs with a link to more information online, they may form a habit of clicking on the links in your emails to get past the teaser and straight to the full content.

It’s not just about being consistent, though.

Want to Create Good Subscriber Habits? Provide Great Value. Every Time.

If you want subscribers to get in the habit of opening your emails, clicking on links, sharing your emails via forwards or social networks, buying products or taking whatever other action/s you have in mind…

…bring the kind of value in your emails that gets them to do that – and do it consistently!

If you consistently provide outstanding value, your subscribers will read them, click links, etc. They’ll also form a perception of your emails as being valuable.

Both of these lead to forming exactly the types of subscriber habits you want.

Email Marketing Isn’t a Sprint; It’s a Marathon.

I know, this isn’t an earth-shattering, “how did I never think of that?” type of tip.

But it’s an important one, and I hope you take it to heart…

…because if you don’t focus on delivering great, even-better-than-subscribers-could-possibly-have-been-prepared-for content, then you’ll create the worst possible expectation in your subscribers:

“These emails aren’t worth my time anymore.”

What Expectations Do YOU Try to Create Over Time?

How are you doing it? What have you found helpful?

Share your ideas below!

Tags expectations, strategy

Related Articles:

• What Do Subscribers Expect from You?
• 3 Ways to Build Urgency In Email Subject Lines
• Email Autoresponders and The Trouble With the “Best” Time to Send
• Thank You: Another Critical Opportunity to Create Subscriber Expectations
• Learn The First of 3 Critical Opportunities to Create The Right Subscriber Expectations

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