I was chatting with a business associate the other day and we started talking about a promotional idea. I thought it sounded pretty good and felt that my list would like to know about it. He suggested that I send them an email warning them that another email would be coming in a few days and to look out for it. This got me thinking about the pros and cons of pre warnings when it comes to email marketing. I think you will find this interesting reading. Ultimately, you will need to test to see what works best for you.

Let’s begin with the pros because these are fairly obvious. One thing you need to understand is that the people on your list have busy lives. Not everything they do revolves around waiting for your emails, as much as we’d like to think that’s true. So, it is quite possible that when sending out a promotion, on that particular day, they just might not get around to opening it. Maybe they’re out of town. Maybe they just didn’t turn on their computer that day. Thus, by warning them in advance that an email is coming on a certain day, they can mark that day on the calendar and get themselves ready for it. This could very well increase your open rate on that day.

Okay, the pros of pre warnings seem quite obvious. In fact, it would seem that there are no cons to sending these pre warnings. But there are. See, with many lists, especially those in the “make money online” niche, people can be very skeptical and jaded. Another Internet marketer, when receiving that email about this great opportunity that you’re going to tell them about on Wednesday (it’s now Sunday) is going to immediately think, “Why can’t you just tell me about it now? Why the big buildup?” Ultimately, their hype meter is going to go off and they’re going to feel like they’re being sold a bill of goods. The chances of them buying this product, let alone opening the email, are slim to none. You’ve already lost them.

How many of each type are you going to get? There is really no way of knowing until you test it out. Send one email without a pre warning about a certain product. Then, send another promotion with the pre warning. See which one gets a higher open rate. For me personally, the pre warning works very well, but that’s got a lot to do with the people on my list. They, for whatever reason, trust me and respect me. If your people feel the same way about you, then you should also get decent results.

But the only way you’re going to find out is to test it.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Tired of not getting your emails delivered, read or opened? Sick of not making any sales from your email marketing efforts? Visit my site at http://www.stevewagenheim.com/emailmarketing/index.html and get your hands on 5 years of my personal experience with email marketing…experience that has earned me tens of thousands of dollars yearly.