"Thanksgiving is when everyone–even marketers–takes stock of everything they are thankful for," writes SubscriberMail's Jordan Ayan. So it's as good a time as any to re-examine your email marketing practices to ensure customers won't label you a turkey.


Ayan suggests these 5 holiday-inspired steps to season your email marketing program:
1 - Don't be the uninvited guest. Just because a customer makes a one-time purchase doesn't mean they want to hear from you all the time. An email thanking them for their purchase and subtly offering information about complementary items may be welcome. But future persistent sales attempts or newsletters might tick them off and could trigger spam complaints.
2 - Don't serve tofu when you promised turkey. Make sure you send your subscribers the kind of email they signed up for. If they are expecting a monthly best practices newsletter, don't send weekly product information emails. Respect what they did (and did not) opt into.
3 - Where's the stuffing? Respect your recipients' time with a clear subject line that includes the benefit they will receive if they read the message. Don't hide an exciting email behind an elusive subject line, or make them try to guess what the email is about.
4 .... Make it good enough to eat. Is your email designed so that it does everything you need it to do and nothing that it shouldn't? All calls-to-action should be clearly stated and easily clickable. Conversely, be careful not to format text that is not clickable in a way that makes it look like a link.
5 - What, no pie? Like that slice of pumpkin pie you're thinking about before you even sit down to dinner, landing that conversion from the click-through is your ultimate goal. Make sure the page you link to from your email is set up to accomplish it. Link to a landing page that is branded similarly to your email so it's an easy transition for the reader. Your landing page should be designed so it's easy for visitors to complete the transaction. You don't want to risk losing conversions because visitors become confused or frustrated with your landing page, especially when they've made it so far.