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Can a Mistake Have an ROI?

By Candyce Edelen

PropelGrowth Blog - Financial Services Marketing

Sometimes, email marketing mistakes can deliver unexpected return on investment

Last week, we made an embarrassing email marketing mistake. We had just migrated to a new email service provider and were sending out an email about our upcoming webcast Feeding the Content Beast in the Real World. We ran into a little problem with the salutation code. Phil contacted technical support. After looking into it, they assured us it was fixed and that everything was fine. So we sent the message.

But it wasn’t fine. The HTML for the salutation code contained an error. As a result, every message started with “Hey [[firstname fallback=”Friend” mode=”uc”]] , you’re invited to attend this informative webcast:”

Since Phil and I were included in the list, we noticed the mistake immediately. Phil got back on the phone with tech support, figured out what went wrong, and corrected our template. We decided to quickly send out a “mea culpa” email with the subject line “Oops!”. That email was short and sweet – just a quick note from me in plain text:

You may have noticed a recent email from me that began with gobbledygook code. We’ve recently moved over to a new email service and are working out the kinks. So sorry that you had to be subjected to that. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.

Warm regards,
Candyce

A few minutes after we sent the first email, I started receiving responses. That email delivered a whopping 42% higher open rate than the first email. But more importantly, nearly 10% of the people on our list responded with encouraging notes, which quite frankly, turned our day from bad to great.

I received notes from people I have not talked to for a couple years, words of encouragement from people I admire, and got opportunities to catch up with a number of former clients, colleagues, friends and subscribers.

I wanted to share a few of the notes that I found funny or encouraging. I’ve left off sender names, because I didn’t ask senders for permission to share. But you know who you are…so thank you for your encouraging words!

  • No apologies required at all!  It looks like an interesting interview!
  • Not to worry, Candyce. We’ve all been there!
  • Yep I got it.. saw the gobbledygook – one of my favorite words of all time – and ignored it.  Did I need to read it?
  • Thanks for clarifying that… I thought I had drunk too much whiskey ..
  • I never would have noticed the garbled code!  🙂
  • No worries – i know you are usually the queen of mail shot mktg  😉
  • No worries. We have all done it. The first time I subbed in for the guy who publishes the newsletter, the subject line read <Enter Email Subject Here>
  • I think it makes us all feel human to see others making a mistake that we’re all scared of making 😉 So not a bad thing at all.
  • No worries, Candyce.  If that’s the worst thing you’ve done today, you’ve had a good day 🙂

I replied to every response, getting into dozens of email conversations. In one, I found out a former client has had a baby. She sent me ADORABLE baby photo. Other clients and prospects I’d been out of touch with reconnected, and I booked two sales calls.

Who knew an email marketing mistake could actually deliver an ROI? After discussing this outcome with a client, he sent me this note:

“It’s the first law of customer service.  It’s not about never making a mistake.  It’s how you handle them.  When you do that well, the end result is better than never making mistakes at all.  That’s the ROI on mistakes.  And, people like you, mistakes make you human.”

I think this comment carries the most important lesson of the day. Mistakes are human. Owning up to them can actually increase trust and improve relationships.

So, now it’s your turn. Have you gotten an ROI on a mistake?

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Candyce Edelen
CEO at PropelGrowth
Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.
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Latest posts by Candyce Edelen (see all)
  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
  • The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales
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Filed Under: Lead Nurturing, PropelGrowth Blog Tagged With: email marketing, lead nurturing

About Candyce Edelen

Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.

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PropelGrowth helps companies improve their marketing and sales. We start with in-depth buyer research. Then we develop a marketing and sales strategy and customer-centric messaging. Then we coach your team and help you execute on the strategy by developing thought leadership programs, content for every stage in the buying process, sales collateral, and tools to help buyers buy.

Figure out why and how your buyers buy

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Recent Posts

  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
  • The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales
  • Can Inbound Marketing Generate Enough Leads?
  • How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Using LinkedIn for Prospecting
  • Tips from 8 ERP Resellers on How to Leapfrog Your Competition​
  • How to Win 74% of Your ERP Deals
  • Buyer Persona Research, the Key to Niche Marketing
  • 8 Ways a Niche Strategy Improves the Value of Your Practice

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+1 970.300.2280

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      • Acumatica Partner Marketing
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      • What This CEO Learned From Buyer Persona Research Transformed Her Company
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      • Solving the No Decision Problem
      • Back
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