Go from Panic to Recovery with This Email Marketing Mistakes Decision Tree [Infographic]

3 min read

Panic! You’ve just realized that you made a mistake with your latest email marketing campaign. What do you do next?

Take a deep breath and refer to the decision tree below, which will take you step-by-step through 6 questions that will help you decide how to recover from email marketing mistakes quickly and with as much grace as possible.

Given how dynamic, complex, and quick the email marketing medium is, mistakes are virtually impossible to avoid. So keep this decision tree handy to ensure that you bounce back with a response that minimizes the impact of the error and avoids drawing more attention to it.

For a full discussion of how to use this decision tree, download our free report on How to Recover from Email Marketing Mistakes.
How to Recover from an Email Marketing Mistake

How to Recover from Email Marketing Mistakes

How to Recover from Email Marketing Mistakes

This free report shares advice and real-life examples that help you recover from email marketing mistakes quickly and with grace.

Get the insights →


INFOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPT
How to Recover from Your Email Marketing Mistake

Anytime you make an email marketing mistake, ask yourself…

Q1: Is the error minor, inoffensive, and easily understood by subscribers as an mistake?

YES: Let it go. However… [Jump to Q5’s No answer]

NO: [Continue to Q2]

Q2: Is the campaign automated or the send still in progress?

YES: Turn off the automation or pause the send. Fix the mistake, double-check that you’ve fixed the mistake, and then resume the send or turn the automation back on. To determine what to do about those subscribers who received the erroneous email, ask yourself…

NO: [Continue to Q3]

Q3: Can you fix the error or eliminate most of the resulting confusion post-send?

YES: Update image files or live content, redirect links or URLs, change landing page copy, and take other actions to fix the error. Then… [Jump to Q5’s No answer]

NO: Consider whether updating image files or live content, redirecting links or URLs, changing landing page copy, or taking other actions will lessen the impact of the error. Then ask yourself… [Continue to Q4]

Q4: Does the error affect all subscribers?

YES: Send a correction email or an apology email to those subscribers who were impacted by the erroneous email. Then ask yourself… [Continue to Q5]

NO: Send a correction email or an apology email to everyone who received the erroneous email. Then ask yourself… [Continue to Q5]

Q5: Does the mistake warrant wider damage control?

YES: Consider giving customer service reps and social media managers a heads up in case they get questions about the error. Then ask yourself… [Continue to Q6]

NO: Get public relations, customer service, social media, and other departments involved so a consistent and appropriate response is marshalled. After the dust has settled, ask yourself… [Continue to Q6]

Q6: Can I improve my email creation process to reduce the chance of this mistake recurring?

YES: Take a deep breath. Sometimes no matter what you do, mistakes find a way to slip through.

NO: Improve your email testing, pre-send checklist, spam filter testing, review and approval process, and other mechanisms to improve quality assurance.

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Chad S. White

Chad S. White is the Head of Research at Oracle Digital Experience Agency.