Forum Moderators: phranque
I only want to mail them once and although I could use mailing list software, I don't want it to look like they're on a mailing list (this is extremely important as I don't want it to look like I'm spamming my own customers).
Ideally, the e-mail would look as though it was sent to that one person alone.
This really is going to be a one off (excluding next Xmas of course) - I'm not asking your advice on how to spam people!
I would check with your ISP to make sure that they don’t shut you down for doing a mass emailing. They are taking a lot of heat and might not give you a warning.
jb
I agree that your customers may not really appreciate the thought. If you do send this out, make sure it is clear to the customers that they can opt out and receive nothing further from you.
The conversation could continue though, because there are situations in which mass emailing is a good idea. One such time is that of a manufacturer product recall (particularly in regard to safety). Although it has never happened to me, it would be interesting to know how to do this without being penalised by your hosting service for this. And in an emergency, it may be useful to know how to do this in advance instead of a mad panic at the time!
But I still stick by the statement: Unless the email is useful communication, don't send it. Useful communication does not include advertising, marketing, research, etc... as it is the customers viewpoint you should look at: only send it if you think they'll view it as useful.
Something just saying Happy Christmas would I believe impress a number of my customers, although the point is well taken that some people wouldn't like it which is why it would be made clear that it was completely one off.
It may seem like junk mail to you, but lots of people don't even know that bulk senders exist. They think it's a very personal touch and they appreciate that you took the time to thank them and wish them a happy holiday. They don't think it is pointless, and the holiday email has the lowest opt-out rate of all the emails we send.
Customer retention things like this can affect your bottom line as much as any sales thing you send out.
could I care any less how personal or well meant they are? Hardly!
SN
php sendMails.php
You could also call it as a background job if it takes too long or schedule it with a cron job
I did state to all customers that it was a completely one off mailing and although I didn't receive a significant number of hits as a result (which was not the aim of the mailing, nor did I expect it), I did receive the following.
** Out of 6000 people mailed I received back the following **
- 2 people requesting to be removed from the mailing list despite my reminder that it was a completely one off. I do plan to send one back, personally addressed and written just confirming that it was a completely one off and they won't be disturbed again.
- Several phone calls wishing me and my staff a happy Xmas.
- Dozens upon dozens of e-mails wishing all of us a happy Xmas, thanking us for the mailing and wishing us best luck for the coming year.
It would appear that there is still room for a company that is very customer oriented to e-mail their customers as a completely one off and receive good results. The responses that have been received from this mailing have been so good that several of them will be printed and used as testimonials.
There is of course a vast difference between wishing existing customers a genuine Happy Xmas and spamming them aimlessly and somewhere along the way I believe that several of you have forgotten the difference.
Chris
Not at all sure why you feel that way. Just looked to me that people here were trying to point out to you that many users get so many e-mail messages - spam and otherwise - that non-essential messages are often not appreciated.
You had good results, and that's great.
One thing I would mention though is unless all your customers are Christians, it's probably a good idea to stay as PC as possible. Ok, ok, this is pretty fresh in my mind because I just wished a jew a Merry Christmas (D'oh! a reflex: she wished me a Merry Christmas, by the time I returned the wish I realized how silly it was). Although most people will just laugh it off, it could annoy some that won't bother to tell you they won't bother shopping at your site anymore.
Oh... and 2 removal requests out of 6000 mailings is pretty remarkable; I would have imagined it would be closer to 2%!
Happy Holidays! :)
I think too many people are ready to pull the trigger in claiming spam.
But, I do have to say, for future refrence and your legal protection, even if you do not intend to mail a list again, make sure you add an opt-out funtion. It is now something that is required, at least here in the US, in any mass email sent.
Depends entirely on the wording and my mood at the time, but most non-family or friend "happy holidays" emails fly into my trash faster than you can say "eggnog"!
I don't like receiving emails from commercial entities unless I've ASKED to receive email from them or am currently engaged in a transaction with them (eg. a service provider, like my web host; an open order at an ecom site, etc.)
I had to ABANDON an email address this year due to excessive spam, even with filters. I've been active online since before the Net and have never seen this much detritus cluttering up the "air"waves. So, email with care.
To Original Poster: It's not a "one time" mailing if you plan on mailing it out every Christmas. That would be why folks unsub "even though" you've told them it's a one time mailing.
