How to Apologize by Email and Retain Your Subscribers
Apology letters are a quick way to put out a fire, regardless of the cause of the fire. If you fail such a letter, you can ignite the flame even more. But if you make a letter lively, understandable, honest and useful, you can benefit a business or a project, bring new subscribers, increase loyalty andsell your goods, after all.
Why Apology Is Good
Apology letters are beautiful because they are logical and justified. You messed up, brought harm to the subscriber, realized a mistake and now admit it. These are not strained marketing messages. Apology letters are understandable and very human.That is why such emails almost always win out over regular emails. Besides this, more people open them. If you've added a gift or even a discount to the apology, it can have a strong commercial impact.
All of this works if you:
- do not abuse such apologies;
- really did not notice the mistake and rushed to correct;
- added something useful to the letter;
What are the mistakes
It is very important to determine the impact of the error before proceeding with the body of your apology letter. Therefore, assess the damage caused and identify all possible consequences. But remember, not all email errors are created equal. For example, if you missed a letter in a word, don't worry. But if you forgot to link to the CTA, you will surely be bombarded with negative subscribers.
We can divide errors into three groups - depending on their severity into the following categories:
Minor - Typos and inaccuracies that won't hurt the business or the subscriber.
Important - There was some kind of malfunction or failure: for example, the site has become temporarily unavailable to users. In general, all technical errors that interfere with working with clients, but can be eliminated in the near future.
Critical- Mistakes that can lead to brand reputation loss, negatively impact sales and cause long-term business damage. For example, problems in interaction with the site - promo codes or discounts do not work, behavioral triggers are not sent, payment does not pass, etc.
Errors in the "Minor" category do not require an apology. But you must prevent them from happening again. Letters of apology can help make up for the mistakes of other categories.
Some marketers are well aware of the power of apologies and use it for their own ends. For example, they deliberately make a minor mistake and apologize for it, adding a commercial part to the apology. These apologies usually have no future. They will work once or twice, and then the user will see through the chip and stop responding. And then letters of apology will not come to the rescue at the moment when they are most needed.
How to apologize
If this is your first apology, here are some general tips to write about.
Admit your mistake. Don't evade, don't make excuses - in general, don't make the problem worse. Admit your mistake and tell your subscriber about it.
Talk about the problem. Explain in simple terms what went wrong and how you are going to fix the problem. Give the subscriber a guarantee and sign under every word. For more convincing, post your photo.
Apologize sincerely. Unlike the rest of your mailings, this email should be more personal. So, don't be afraid to be honest and admit that you regret what happened.
Add humor. Unobtrusive humor and the ability to laugh at yourself set you up for a positive. These letters of apology help to win over the other person.
Redeem with a bonus. Try to appease the subscriber and offer him some kind of bonus. Then you don't have to go into the description of the causes of the error.
Find the right theme. The subject line of the apology letter is very important, it sets the reader in the right mood. Sometimes a simple "oops" or "oh" is enough. In more serious cases, you should try to be creative.
There is no perfect recipe. Someone recommends to apologize playfully, someone seriously, someone generally thinks that you need to pretend that nothing happened. And the funny thing is that ... everyone is right.
Go through a few problems, apologize, and see the reaction. Here's what you can and should test:
- presentation (joke / seriousness / officialdom);
- size of the message (apology in a few lines / treatise);
- apologetic (specific person / company);
- bonus (anything that can be gifted);
- design (text / text with pictures / sad cat and so on).
After only a few tests, you can figure out how best to apologize to your subscribers. It is also possible that your base will freak out with an apology rather than a mistake. Yes, sometimes you can even remain silent.
Another valuable resource is someone else's apology. They will help you look at mistakes from the outside and find your life preserver. Smart people, as you know, learn from other people's mistakes.
Simple conclusions
1. There is no perfect recipe for an apology. To find a suitable option, you need to make a few mistakes, apologize and look at the results.
2. It is worth apologizing for significant problems when significant damage is done to the reader. All other cases are manipulation.
3. The best apology is a sincere one, when you really regret what you did.
4. You can add marketing elements to an apology as long as it doesn't pull the blanket. If there is more marketing, sincerity is destroyed.
5. An apology can be turned into an exciting article or a big newsfeed.
6. Apologies are good. Ignoring the problem is bad.
7. Don't take it personally. Even if someone tries to prick you and writes something rude, don't give in. Don’t take caustic remarks to heart. You work on behalf of the company.