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Over the last few months, we’ve been seeing more of our local fellow business owners sending out email newsletters, which is great! At last they’re realising what a great cost effective marketing tool email is. They’ve also stopped mailing with Outlook in favour of more professional services, thank goodness!
Last week, a Financial Advisor we both know issued his new E-newsletter, using a popular and reliable service called Constant Contact. Although one of the salutations was wrong, eg “Dear John” instead of the correct first name, it was a very informative and professional publication and a great first effort.
A day or so later, another email arrived from the same person. It was full of apologies for the salutation error, assuring us that this wasn’t normal practice and would never happen again, etc, etc. Wow!
In our experience, this type of ‘simple’ mistake will sometimes slip through, even if you do the most careful proof-reading beforehand and no matter how many test transmissions you pore over. And, actually, sending out an apology just serves to draw attention to the error – all over again! Until then, you were probably the only person still thinking about it.
Unless a mistake has been made in one of the important facts you’re trying to get across (like the date or time of an event!), then an apology really isn’t necessary. While we agree that all due care should be taken to avoid typos and other errors, aiming for 100% perfection will take far too much of your time and energy. Do the best you can and then forget it! Move on to the next mailing.
About Louise
Louise Barnes-Johnston has been working in social media marketing since 2007 after realising that it was a powerful marketing tool which would enable her clients to raise the profile of their businesses on the internet, even when working to a limited budget. Her specialism is in researching social media practices; trying out the most effective online tools and then sharing the best of them with her clients.
