Are you experiencing Coronavirus Email Overload? Are you concerned that your Email to customers may be more annoying than helpful? We want to give you some ideas to consider.
Should I send an Email?
You probably do need to send an Email if your business is closed, if you have changed services or hours of operation, or if you are the type of business that customers might wonder if you are open or not. If you don’t have anything to say, then your Email is going to need to have something relevant or interesting. If you do not meet any of these criteria, then your Email may be perceived as annoying or “too late” for some people.
For example, when the virus was starting to hit in the United States, the Coronavirus news cycle focused on which celebrity contracted COVID-19. Now that more people have the virus releasing a news story about specific celebrities may seem irrelevant unless the situation is dire. Similarly, sending an Email now saying something generic and adding no value is not going to be well received.
A tale of two Emails
There are two contrasting Emails in my inbox today that I thought would be relevant to this discussion. I won’t list the company names, but I will explain the differences. One Email was from a local business I interact with regularly that was forced to close because of the regulations. They made this announcement and offered solutions to how they plan on handling this, including how their services are changing. It was about the best possible way to handle the situation, and I applaud them for how they crafted and delivered the message.
The other Email, which I believe contributes to Coronavirus Email Overload, was from a business that I have interacted with, but couldn’t remember who they are by reading the Email. The Email said the generic COVID-19 is crazy, we are here for you (without saying what that means), and nothing else. The font was too small, and while the business included a logo, it wasn’t clickable. There was no link or contact information anywhere in the Email, and when I tried to go to the company website, it didn’t even load. So somebody at this organization had good intentions and sent this lackluster Email out with no clarity on what they were willing to do to help their customers, no way to contact them, and no functioning website. Oops!
What do I do?
So my point is, if you want to send something out and have something important to say – please do it. I ask that if you are going to do it, make sure it’s correct and functioning. If you don’t have anything important to say or any way to help, you might consider using social media or some other vehicle to deliver your message. Using an Email could be contributing to Coronavirus Email Overload, and you may push customers away as a result.
