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Expectation v Experience
The gap between expectation and experience can make the difference between success and failure. Large gaps often result in lower conversion and higher unsubscribe rates. You've probably heard people say "don't make promises you can't keep". Likewise, you shouldn't build expectations you can't meet.
 The three phases identified in the diagram (left) are crucial to managing expectation experience gaps in your email marketing. These three phases are explained in greater detail below.
Manage the expectation: Make it very clear what your readers should expect. This should run right through your email strategy from campaign timing to email content. Take time to think about how your email campaigns will effect the expectations of your readers. Aim to create realistic and attractive expectations that promote long term loyalty.
Monitor the experience: It's very important that you monitor what happens during the experience. If you have a high opt out rate, abandonment rate after click through or low conversion rate you may have an issue with expectation experience gaps.
Feedback the experience: Encourage your readers to feedback their comments. Simply asking if you met their expectations can help avoid any unnecessary marketing blunders. Ideally you should ask what they expected and how this compared to their experience.
Addressing the balance
Gaps between expectation and experience can happen for a number of reasons. Identifying them will enable you to develop your marketing and improve customer relationships.
If your customers identify that their experience was better than they expected you're probably under selling your business. By researching this you'll also be able to identify the exact areas that you're under selling. You can then focus on promoting these areas and ultimately improve your company's profitability.
On the other hand you may find that your customers expected more than they experienced. In this case you are over selling your business or you're under performing. Identifying this gap can help you refocus on the areas where you are falling short.
If you have a question about this article please feel free to contact us online or email marketing@newzapp.co.uk
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