How to Apologize by Email and Retain Your Subscribers

Everyone makes mistakes, but as an email marketer your blunders are often sent to thousands of subscribers at the click of a button. No matter how hard you try, your emails are unlikely to be 100 percent error-free all of the time.

If you discover some minor spelling mistakes, generally it is not required a formal apology. However, if you accidentally send an inappropriate or inaccurate email or if customers can’t access your promotional offer, we have some tips on how you can apologize gracefully and rescue the situation.

  1. Get your apology out as soon as possible after the event. Don’t wait until customers complain. A timely, proactive response will make your apology more meaningful.
  2. Be clear in your subject line and content that you are apologizing. Ironically, apologies have a higher open rate that regular email marketing campaigns. Even if the subscriber has not been personally affected, they are likely to open the email out of curiosity
  3. Tailor the content to match the mistake. Small errors may leave room for you to poke fun at yourself. Larger or more serious slip ups should be addressed with a suitably solemn tone.
  4. Consider having a senior manager or even the CEO sign the apology email to let subscribers know how important it is to the company. As a general rule, the more serious the error the more senior the signatory.
  5. It may be appropriate to include a special offer in your apology email. If customers have missed out on a promotion or discount due to a broken link or an over-loaded server, consider extending the offer or providing an additional discount. However, if you are apologizing for inappropriate tone or content, think twice about including a promotional offer. It may look as if you are trying to buy the customer off.
  6. Be sure that your email apology is flawless. Check it over several times before you hit the send button. Also, check and double-check that the issue leading to the apology has been fixed. There is little point apologizing for a defective discount code if you send a further faulty code in its place.

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