I Actually Received THIS Email from a Respected Company

We all expect the big guys to have it together, right? They pour hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars into their marketing and advertising budgets every year, so they should know how to use that money wisely. With that kind of money and resources, there’s no excuse for a poor email marketing strategy. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens anyways.

I got an email yesterday from Adobe. I do like Adobe products and I’m sure I got onto a list when signing up for a trial at some point. This is what appeared in my inbox.

Fail #1: I don’t regularly receive emails from Adobe, so I don’t have the experience to know if this email will be valuable to me or not. Therefore, I’m less likely to click on it. Sending regular (whether that’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly) emails helps to keep you and your company in mind, especially when you are sending high-value content to your opted-in email list.

Fail #2: “Now reduce your print costs at a reduced price” Really, Adobe? Isn’t that a little overly redundant? Headlines are arguably the most important piece of content, be it email, blog, or an offer.

Realizing they had screwed up already, I had to see what else might be off. So I opened it and saw this.

Fail #3: What is this, amateur hour? One of the worst practices in an email marketing strategy is to send from a no-reply email address. email@mail.adobesystems.com probably isn’t a usable email address, and seeing “PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. To obtain information on how to contact Adobe, visit the web or call 800-833-6687,” at the bottom of the email confirmed my suspicion.

Fail #4: Many email providers have images turned off by default. Therefore, it’s a BAD IDEA to comprise your entire email of images. In fact, some email marketing agencies and gurus recommend avoiding images.

Out of curiosity, I chose to show the images and saw this.

Now, granted, it’s a simple, fairly well-designed ad. And there is value there – I can save up to 50% on my printing; there’s just one small problem.

Fail #5: I’ve never even heard of Adobe LeanPrint. I’ve never used it, I don’t know how it works, and I don’t have any interest in it. It’s a poorly targeted email, and a waste of my time and inbox space. Needless to say, I unsubscribed so I don’t continue to get disjointed, irrelevant emails. At least that was easy.

In conclusion, money, supposed expertise, and respectability doesn’t necessarily mean that everything that is sent out is gold. It also doesn’t mean that small businesses with fewer resources can’t create truly awesome and inspiring content. The trick is to continue learning, implement proven best practices, and test.

Want to learn how to do email marketing right? Download the Complete Guide to Optimizing Email Marketing for Conversions.