It’s Time to Say Thank You

Courtesy: lifelearn.com

We all could stand to say “thank you” once in a while to those we appreciate. I’ll start by thanking you for reading this. Without loyal subscribers such as you, I wouldn’t be blogging.

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up in the United States, it’s a great opportunity to send a note to your stakeholders that tells of your appreciation for them and asks for nothing in return. No call to action, just “thanks for being our customer.”

Who:

Get together your list of clients and customers. Have a large list and only want to write to the most engaged folks (or big spenders)? Segment them out and run an A/B test against the less engaged folks to measure responses. (In this case it’d be open rate since you’re not asking them to click anywhere or buy anything.) You can’t go wrong by writing to everyone, but this may be a way to figure out who’s just emotionally unsubscribed (the less engaged group who does open the thank you) and who’s totally checked out (the less engaged group who doesn’t even open a thank you).
You can also thank anyone who’s lent you a hand over the course of your business’s lifetime, professional contacts and/or friends of the business.

What:

1. Start with a greeting that includes their name. (Test your merge tags before hitting send. You don’t want to call someone by the wrong name!)
2. Start the note with the two most important words: “thank you.” Then mention what they did for you.
3. Give details about why their support is meaningful to you.
4. Make mention of what’s ahead for your business and how their support has contributed to this future activity.
5. Restate your thanks: “thank you again!”
6. End with a regards

When:

Anytime between now and the end of the year would allow you to reflect on the past year and look ahead to what’s planned in 2015.

How:

For small lists (those under 25 addresses), send through a platform suited for 1:1 messages, such as Outlook or your web-based email program. But even those could benefit from an Email Software Program (ESP), such as MailChimp. If you have access to a graphic designer (or are one yourself), why not design a thank you image that fits within your company’s branding? You could also develop an image to use in a message that’s not in a letter format but is more similar to the marketing-centric messages your recipients are used to seeing.

Why:

A note that merely expresses gratitude will stand out in the recipient’s inbox during a season of messages designed to separate them from their money. In the process, you’ll engender goodwill and enhance your brand’s reputation.

Good brand example

Fabric.com figured they have 364 days in a year to sell their customers, so why take one day to just say thanks? To do that, the Amazon company sent the message below to its customers last Thanksgiving. By opting not to send their customers an offer on the holiday, they were able to strengthen their relationship with their customers and garner a lot of positive feedback from a note that asked for nothing in return. I liked this example a lot as a way for a faceless organization to be human and express its gratitude for the people buying their fabric from Fabric.com.