eBook - Silverpop

How Assumptions Can Kill
Subscriber Engagement
Why is it in my interest
Q: to collect data on my
subscribers?
Hi there. My name is Loren. By the way,
A: I’m a “he,” not a “she.” But you wouldn’t
know that if you looked at my inbox and mailbox.
Between one-third and one-half of the people
who send me email or postal mail assume that
Loren is a female (even though “Loren” more
often is the male version and “Lauren” the
female).
Similarly, my wife surprises people all the time
when she meets them in person the first time
after speaking with them only on the phone.
Most people assume that with a last name like
McDonald, she’s a blonde or brunette. Imagine
their surprise when she turns out to be a tall,
black-haired Chinese woman.
Speaking of my last name, you might be thinking,
“Loren, ye fine Irish lad, whatever is your
point?” Well, that’s another assumption.
I’m three-quarters Swedish and one-quarter
Lithuanian. Not a touch of Irish in my genes.
And, anyway, “McDonald” is a Scottish clan, not
Irish.
As humans and marketers, we have to be
careful about assuming too much about our
subscribers, especially when all we know about
them is their email addresses.
The downside of wrong assumptions about your
customers and prospects goes beyond potentially
annoying them and even hurting your
brand.
It can also hurt your bottom line by continually
sending subscribers offers and communications
based on “bad” data – or, worse yet, no data:
As marketers, we obviously have to make some
assumptions about people in our database. If you
sell mountain-biking equipment, it is probably a
fair assumption that someone who opts in to your
program is interested in mountain biking.
If you sell winter sports equipment, and someone’s
first purchase is a snowboard and boots, you might
logically conclude he or she is a snowboarder and
not a downhill skier. You might be correct, but, of
course, the purchase could have been for a spouse,
child or friend.
5 Tips to Reduce Faulty
Assumptions
So, how can you avoid or minimize potentially
embarrassing and costly mistakes by assuming the
wrong things about your customers and subscribers?
1. Capture basic data:
I recently received an email promoting engagement
rings from the most respected brand in
jewelry. Sorry, folks, but I’ve been married for 26
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