Even marketers suck at e-mail marketing. One of my staff just received this from the American Marketing Association:

Brian opted in to this list. But this was still flagged as spam, at least mentally. What could the AMA do to make this e-mail better?

1. Don’t!!! Use!!!! So!!!! Many!!!! Exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Nothing screams “I am cheesy” more than lots of exclamation points. Except maybe all caps. Oh, wait…
2. DON’T USE ALL CAPS. All caps is just grammatically incorrect. It’s wrong, OK? There’s no reason to use them. I know it’s a Net Research knowledge base. You don’t have to yell at me. The only other thing that’s this annoying is lots of bold text. Oh, wait a second…
3. You don’t have to bold so much. I’m not a moron. If you write your copy well, you shouldn’t have to bold 10% of the text on the page. And on the subject of well-written copy…
4. Use a spell checker. ‘Knowledgebase’ is not a word. It makes you look bad, and it makes me less inclined to respond. Who wants to get their listing in a knowledge base if it’s going to be full of typos?
5. Don’t send attachments. It’s annoying. Just put the necessary information in the e-mail.
6. Write well. The tone of this e-mail is decidedly down-market. The copy is stilted and difficult to read. It doesn’t start with any compelling point. Here’s a quick revision:

‘
It’s not too late to add your company to the AMA’s annual Directory of Net Research Products and Services.

This is a great opportunity to put your products and services in front of AMA readers. These readers are marketing planners and decision makers who need your help!

Directory listings are due by October 15th.

Submission costs only $nn. You can submit online at www.ama.org/asdfasdfadsf/

Thanks,

Jane Doe’

E-mail has a terrible reputation. That reputation is undeserved, but earned through poor execution. Avoid the 6 sins and you’ll help rehabilitate one of the most powerful direct marketing tools available.