Why You Need to Manage Expectations

It's important to let subscribers know exactly what they can expect from you even before they opt in to your program. Then, meet or exceed those expectations throughout the relationship. This creates engaged subscribers who will anticipate your messages and act on them.

If you fail to meet expectations at crucial touch points during the relationship, your subscribers can become passive or opt out altogether. Or, as Loren McDonald starts his article:

"If you ever happen to meet me in real life, I'm a twenty-something male, 6'2" tall, 180 pounds of pure muscle, with a full head of curly dark hair.

Alas, if we ever do meet or you see my photo, you'll find out the only part of that description that is accurate is the fact that I'm male. I would fail to live up to your expectations."

So it is with email. If you don't live up to subscribers' expectations, they might end up making false assumptions based on their experiences with other Web sites, email campaigns and newsletters.

Which are those crucial touch points? What are the basic principles that apply throughout the subscriber relationship? And what are typical things your subscribers expect from you and where they have likely been disappointed before? Read the full article to find out.