Not long ago, the friend of a MarketingProfs colleague—we'll call him Pete—sighed in annoyance as he tapped furiously on his iPhone's keypad. He was visibly angry as he explained he had just received "the thousandth email this month" from a major retailer. "I'm sick of it," he said. "I'm unsubscribing. I never want to hear from them again."

Our interest piqued, we asked about the details of his experience. And this is what we learned:

• Pete had never been an enthusiastic customer of the retailer in question, preferring to shop with a competitor. But he didn't mind receiving occasional offers, which typically offered a storewide discount. "I could use the discounts to buy anything," he said. "I liked it."
• He began to resent the campaigns, however, when a dramatic increase in the frequency of offers accompanied a dramatic decrease in their relevance. "Now they come every two days!" he exclaimed. "And they're discounts on specific things I would never buy!"
• Pete wasn't aware of any preference page where he could adjust frequency and specify topics of interest; nor would it have made much difference had he received such options during the unsubscribe process. "They spent the last month acting like their time was more important than mine," he said. "They don't get a second chance."

The Po!nt: Don't wear out your welcome. If you need another reason to target your campaigns with care, Pete is Exhibit A.

Source: This time, it's anecdotal. But we suggest visiting the Get to the Po!nt—Email Marketing newsletter archive for a variety of sourced ideas on relevance and other critical topics.

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