Why Do Marketers Lie in their Emails?

Coming as I do from a direct response and direct mail background, I'm familiar with the various copy lines used to encourage people to open envelopes.

A teaser line. An offer. A time limited deal. There are numerous ways to increase the open rate of an offline direct mail piece. Some are straightforward, some are compelling, others are plain feeble.

But I don't recall ever having received a piece of direct mail that had an outright lie printed on the envelope.

And I don't expect to. Why would a company do that? If the lie is revealed the moment I open the envelope, then the cat is out of the bag. The company can't be trusted. I would never buy from them.

In my experience, companies in the offline world are smart enough not to put their brand and reputation at risk by over-stepping the mark with their 'come hither' copy lines.

But this doesn't seem to be the case in the online world.

A colleague of mine recently received a B2B email with the subject line:

Fw: Please help - unable to reach your IT person

Of course, nobody had tried to reach any IT person. It was just a sneaky lie written to increase the open rate. And it succeeded. The email was opened. But after a few moments it became apparent that the company had lied. Hello delete button.

But what if my colleague had responded? What if he had been interested in the service being offered? What if he wanted to create a relationship with the vendor but, at some moment, while browsing his inbox, he came to realize that the opening line to the relationship, that first 'Hello', was just a lie?

The low cost of email has created two layers of marketers. The first layer comprises legitimate companies who would stay clear of lying in their subject lines.

The second layer is made up of the smash-and-grab marketers, who will do anything to take your money before you have had time to think through your decision.

This may all seem obvious. After all, you and I would never lie just to get an email opened, would we?

I mention it for two reasons. First, because I have received emails from legitimate companies that come horribly close to lying in their subject lines.

Second, when companies enter into partnerships or affiliate relationships, they often lose control of how those partners promote their products or services. Which is why sometimes you see a legitimate company being pitched in a very crude and misleading way.

The bottom line is to remain aware of the damage that dishonesty does to your brand and reputation.

Nick Usborne is a copywriter, author, speaker and advocat of good writing. You can access all his archived newsletter articles on copywriting and writing for the web at his Excess Voice site. You'll find more articles and resources on how to make money as a freelance writer at his Freelance Writing Success site.

---

Guarantee Recipients Opening Your Emails With These Secrets To Successful Subject Lines!

You've done the hardest part; you've captured your prospect's email... Read More

Email Marketing Kung Fu

Have you ever heard email described as, "the killer Internet... Read More

The Most Critical Strategy to Your Survival, and Prosperity, Online

For the sake of your long term survival and your... Read More

DoubleClicks Q3 2004 Report Shows Bulk Email Marketing Eficiency Increase

Wednesday, December 15 2004 at 16:00 EET... Read More

Your Newsletters Are Pretty Lame If You Are Doing These 7 Things

I remember the good old days of the internet when... Read More

Email: When You Dont Get a Response

The lack of an email response is an issue I... Read More

Autoresponder Tips

An autoresponder is useful for, well, responding to people who... Read More

10 Ways To Quadruple Your Sales with 232%

1. When you make your first sale, you need to... Read More

Lumpy Mail Gets Your Message Through

When it comes to your gravy, lumps are bad. When... Read More

What Good Is An AutoResponder?

A term that confuses just about everyone is "autoresponder". When... Read More

Building Relationships Takes Time: Overcoming the Overnight Surge Urge

Whenever we talk to a new or a "we hope... Read More

Improve Email Deliverability: 15 Tips for Email Marketing Success

Delivering email newsletters and sales messages to opt-in subscribers and... Read More

How You Can Automate Your Business Using Autoresponders

What is an Autoresponder?An Autoresponder is a program or service... Read More

14 Ways To Persuade Your Web Site Visitors To Give You Their Email Address

1. Ask visitors to subscribe to your e-zine. It's a... Read More

Protect Yourself Legally with an Autoresponder Service

Another powerful reason for making the switch from using the... Read More

Free Email Accounts ? Pros and Cons

Free email accounts are great if you want to hide... Read More

Why Your Email Distribution List is Your Best Source of New Sales

Don't overlook your current customers. After all, they're the ones... Read More

Successful Email Marketing

No doubt email is still the best way to get... Read More

Harnessing the Power of Email Marketing

Given the inherent problems with traditional marketing techniques, it`s important... Read More

Why Email Marketing Matters

According to a study by the Winterberry Group, email marketing... Read More

All I Really Needed to Know About List Building I Learned From Stephen King!

I have always been an avid reader of Stephen King's... Read More

Email List Management

How do you get the most out of your list?We... Read More

Say More Than Thank You

Most Websites are gathering e-mail addresses. When you submit your... Read More

Reach Out and Slap Someone

I got my first email account way... Read More

10 Essential Steps to Developing a Successful E-Mail Marketing Campaign

Developing and executing a successful e-mail marketing campaign is becoming... Read More

Analysing Autoresponders

An autoresponder is an automatic or software-mailing program. Why... Read More

Learn How to Double and Triple the Size of Your Opt-in List by Helping Others

I think first of all, everybody deserves to have a... Read More

Internet Tip of the Week: Mistakes Count Against You

Before the advent of email most of us, other than... Read More

What Do Your E-Mail Messages Say About You?

There probably isn't a business person alive who hasn't at... Read More

Proven Techniques For Building A Responsive List

We've all heard those who have Internet business-success stories proclaim,... Read More

Should You Publish a PAID E-zine?

Many of my clients ask me whether they should publish... Read More

Email Hosting ? Learn How To Use eMail To Grow Your Business

Email is a wonderful thing. It costs next to nothing... Read More

Get Viral

Hey, using eBooks, eReports and eCourses is a fantastic way... Read More