This topic came up recently after I received an email with a broken link in it. Then I received the correction email.
In the next two days I received two more emails with problems in it so I thought I should give you a strategy or two on how to deal with fixing an email campaign with a mistake in it. Because someday you will find yourself in this situation.
Before you do send, make sure you follow a pre-sending checklist (get a copy of the ZinMarketing email QA checklist here) and you’ll reduce the chances of having a problem but…
It can happen to you.
How severe is your mistake?
If you have a typo, or bad grammar, or a format that goes wrong, don’t worry about it. Most people realized you are human and will give you a hall pass. It doesn’t help you to draw attention to it. Those that have seen it, and noticed, will have dealt with it and those that didn’t see it don’t need to have you point out your proofing flaws.
However, if you have a broken link, anyone who wants to click on it will be disappointed. You’ll be disappointed too because you won’t make any sales. Broken link means no sales for you.
Here’s the fix for a broken link.
You have a few options. Here are a few that have proven to work well.
1. Resend the message exactly as is and add a comment in the subject line: [LINK FIXED] or [CORRECTION]. This style of fix is pretty straightforward and logical.
2. If you want to be more human about it, use a subject line like: Oops! or Our Mistake! or My Mistake! Then add a short sentence to the beginning of the message and point out the error and the fix. This one is very human and people have to see what they missed. It’s human nature.
3. A simple apology and work well too. Subject line: We’re so embarrassed! Then explain the problem and the fix.
In all of these situations, make sure you are brief about it!
Let’s look at some examples.
[Link Fixed] example 1
Take a look at the subject line and message below. The only change to the message is the addition of the [RESEND – LINK FIXED] text. The body copy remained the same.
[CORRECTION] example 2
In this example, the Oops text was in the subject line along with an explanation of what happened. I’ve seen this work particularly well if the subject line says only “Oops!” Humans are a curious lot.
More explanation – example 3
This is another example of an Oops style message AND you’ll notice I received this on my phone. That’s why you want to be brief with your explanation. This message is particularly good because it’s human. It has some personality.
Keep these tips in mind in the event a broken link slips past you!