I just received this gem of an email and had to point out a few fails for you all to learn from. While I’m sure you all know better than to do what Fox 5 has done, it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?
Point 1: Keep your content consistent
The subject line mentioned a lion attack. That should mean that the associated body copy and image would be about – this is not rocket science – a lion attack. Instead, both the body copy and image are about a woman who has been found guilty of a sex assault with a golf club. Not only is this depressing and sad, but I feel cheated. They set me expectations for a lion attack and I got a sex assault. Not cool.
Point 2: Make your calls to action clear
Aside from the fact that the navy-ish black links below the main story are both tragic and painfully boring (I mean seriously – we go from a murdered roommate to an old water main bursting for the second time in 2 weeks), they are completely unobvious. If you want someone to click something, make it clear. Give them no reason to question where it is you want them to click. Simple as that.
Point 3: Serve ads in appropriate places
This point is more of a rant – but I digress. Not only do the colors of this YAZ ad totally clash with the branding of the email, but I resent being sold anything via email unless I’ve asked for it. Beyond that, I’m not sure if YAZ is aware of their placement, but beyond never ever buying birth control from an email ad, after reading that tragic content, I’m in not in the mood to purchase much of anything. The only thing I can think is that they’re promoting birth control to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.
In sum, be consistent. Set expectations and deliver on said expectations.
