Email. We all get it. Lots of it. I spend a good 20-30 minutes every morning going through the bulk emails that I received while I slept. Some of those I’ll file to read later, others I’ll respond to and others still I’ll unsubscribe from. I’ve seen a very disturbing trend recently in the emails I’ve been getting – automation.
Now don’t get me wrong – automation of marketing effort is here to stay. But if you’re going to do it, make VERY sure you’re paying attention to detail. I hate to throw folks under the bus, but check out this unsolicited email I got from guy I share a group with on LinkedIn (not a connection):
From: (Name Removed)
LinkedIn Marketing Authority ✔ B2B Lead Generation ✔ Speaker ✔ Author ✔ Marketer of the YearSubject: Hi Greg! How are you using Linkedin?
Hi %FNAME%%!
Hope you are well! Saw you in a group we shared, and thought it would be good to reach out to you!
I am the co-founder of (Company Removed) and wanted to reach out to you to share something that might be of value to you.
We struggled for years to find a source of DAILY leads. We tried cold calling, tradeshows, radio, print ads, blogging, facebook….and basically EVERYTHING under the sun.
Finally we figured out the absolute BEST way to generate DAILY B2B leads! Then we automated the ENTIRE process so you only have to touch a button to get leads.
Thought you might be interested in checking out the system we created =)
Here’s where you can go to get a video where we walk you through it completely!
(Link Removed)
Let me know if you’re interested in a personal walkthrough to see if this might be something you can use!
(Name Removed)
Did You Catch It?
Seriously? Hi %FNAME%%! COME ON!!! So dude can go to the trouble of mining my email address from a LinkedIn group, but can’t bother to insert my first name into his email? This is lazy at best and insulting at worst. Either way, between this, misspellings and incorrect capitalization (Facebook should be capitalized, but that’s nit picky) this was automatic delete. Not only that, but I filed this name away in my metal Rolodex of folks I’d not really want to work with in the future.
Gary Vaynerchuk posted the following video recently that summed up my thoughts perfectly. PLEASE don’t be the guy that sends out this type of automated marketing email. You’re doing yourself and your potential clients a huge disservice.