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Churn and Burn Email Marketing

What is churn and burn email marketing?

It's getting people on your mailing list and only marketing to them. It's sending offer after offer, email after email, until they are sick of seeing your emails in their Inbox. It's offering nothing of value unless a purchase is made. Even if you make a purchase the value, if any, often comes from a third party because those who do this are typically affiliate marketers.

Do people really think those on their mailing list want strangers pleading “buy this, buy that” like a child begs for candy? Do people really think this model could last?

You can't treat people like your personal ATM and expect them to be glad to see your emails come in. It's disrespectful, and only one small step away from pure spam.

Churn and burn marketers bear a significant share of the responsibility for the low open rate for email marketing these days.

I've seen some marketers BRAG about their list having a 10 percent open rate. They've even been praised for their “techniques” in beating an even lower industry average open rate.

Ten lousy percent! That's awful.

When I was publishing my newsletter the open rate ran in the 25 to 30 percent range—and I wasn't happy with that. It used to be much better before the "money is in the list" mentality took over and started burning people out.

With churn and burn email marketing you always have to chase after new subscribers because your readers unsubscribe in droves. There is a better way…

The better way is to provide value to your subscribers whether they buy something or not. That means creating content. Oh my gosh, that requires some effort. No wonder those with a something-for-nothing mentality don't consider that a viable option.

The idea that you can just spend one minute at your computer copying and pasting an email swipe and make a fortune was flawed from the beginning. It's not a long-term success model.

"Being yet another sheep in the herd is not the path to individual success."

Following the leader makes us the same, not unique. Being yet another sheep in the herd isn't the path to success. No one rushes to open an email because they want to read the same email swipe over and over from yet another lazy, follow-the-leader marketer.

Those of us who enjoy (enyoyed in my case since I'm retired) higher than average email open rates write in our own unique voice. We create content and share it. Because of our content, because we strive to give value apart from a sale, we keep people subscribed for much longer periods of time and deserve that higher than industry average open rate.

I had subscribers to my newsletter that were with me from the first issue to the last. That's a span of about 17 years That's a long time to hold people's interest. The only way to do that is to care about the value you deliver to them. A few of them still write to me now and then to see how I'm doing—several years after I stopped publishing it. That's a win in my book.

I said all that about my newsletter not to brag, but to illustrate a very important point—people who know and trust you will buy from you again and again. Can you imagine how many sales I made to long term subscribers? It was a lot, dozens of sales in some cases! They were happy about it or they wouldn't keep buying. I was happy about it, too. For the income, sure, but also for the satisfaction of knowing I was creating value that others appreciated.

A subscriber's lifetime value to you is far greater when you treat them with the dignity and respect they deserve. It's no different than in our real world personal relationships. Can you imagine how many friends you'd have if you tried to sell them something every time you see them, and that's the only interaction you have with them? Answer: zero to none, and you'd get there quickly.

This stuff isn't complicated—the better you treat people, the better you make their lives for having known you, the better your relationships will be.

It's only common sense. The trouble is, too many hopeful beginners ignore their common sense and instead place their hopes in the empty promises of the dream merchants.

If you have an online business, or hope to build one, here's something you need to know…

It's easier to sell to existing customers than to win new customers. Existing customers already trust you. You only have to win them over to your new product, rather than having to find new customers and earn their trust before you can even try to sell to them. That's a much easier proposition.

If you want to build a lasting business, you need to use a business model that's built to last. Once you turn people off to you by using churn and burn email marketing, it's hard to win them back.

Providing value is a long term business model. It's sustainable and user friendly.

I encourage you to give it your full consideration when setting up your business. And if you already have a business, it isn't too late to start adding value to your email marketing.

Be real. And forget about money-making schemes that add no value to your list. That's a losing game plan.