Best Practices for Apology Emails

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Best Practices for Apology EmailsApril 2009

Best Practices for Apology EmailsWhen to Send Apologies and What to Say

By Chad White

As was made clear by the 2008 inductees into the Retail Email Blogs 1TUOopsy Hall ofFame U1T, its incredibly difficult to avoid making at least small slip ups and mistakes in thefast-paced world of email marketingeven for the largest retailers. However, as cringe-inducing as many of those oopsies are, most do not rise to the level of requiring anapology email. For those that do, there is a set of best practices worth noting.

Do I Need to Apologize?

The hard and fast rule is: If the mistake is not likely to result in lost revenue or causesignificant brand damage by annoying, angering or offending subscribers, then dontsend an apology.

For instance, mistakes in subject lines rarely rise to the level of needing an apology. Ifthe offer in the subject line differs slightly from the one in the body copy, but the bodycopy is in sync with the landing page, people will realize that the subject line is justwrong. Even if your subject line says subject line, as one of Targets emails did, its notworth correcting because it doesnt affect any of the body content.

Glitches in personalization, minor coding errors, missing secondary images, egregiousspelling and grammar errorsnone of these rise to the level of needing to bother

subscribers with an additional email.Broadly speaking, we see apologies for four kinds of issues:

The email misstated the offer (body copy not in sync with landing page),contained broken links or otherwise didnt function as intended.

The email suffered major rendering problems.

A deployment error sent emails to the wrong segments or recipients.

Server problems caused website availability issues that affected subscribers.

Limiting the Scope of Apologies

To head off the need to send a mass apology email, try to contain the problem. Forinstance, if you notice a serious issue with an email, attempt to halt the send. Then youonly need to send a correction or apology to those that received emails.

Another way to limit the scope of your apologies is to only apologize to those subscribersthat you know were affected by the glitch. For example, if a certain link in an email is
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broken, note the subscribers who clicked on that link and only send the apology emailwith the correct link to those people.

Apology Email Formats

Apologies come in three main formats:

1. Subject line only

In some cases just changing the subject line is enough. For instance, a Dec. 26 emailfrom Harry & David (see 1TUFig. 1 U1T) used the subject line Correction: Up to 70% Off &FREE Shipping* on orders over $99. The subject line of their earlier email had claimedthat the after-Christmas sale featured savings of up to 40%.

2. Preheader message

Usually in addition to indicating a correction or apology in the subject line, some retailersincluded the apology message in the preheader text. For example, a Dec. 22 CompUSAemail (1TUFig. 2 U1T) includes a preheader message thats highlighted in yellow and starts withCorrection: in red type. Yellow highlights and red type are often used for apologymessages in the preheader text.

3. A dedicated email

Particularly in the case of website outages, youll probably want to dedicate an entireemail to apologizing. For example, Chadwicks sent a dedicated apology email on July 15(1TUFig.3 U1T) after it experienced website issues.

What Makes a Good Apology?

The point of any apology is to fix the mistake and get back in the persons good graces.When it comes to retail apology emails, here are seven tips for a graceful recovery:

1. Send the apology email as soon as you can.

Apologies work better the sooner theyre sent. Placing the apology in the preheader textcan be quick, but for those times that you need to send a dedicated email, considercreating an apology email template like Norm Thompson (1TUFig. 4 U1T) and SmartBargainshave done.

2. Make it clear in the subject line that youre apologizing.

The silver lining about having to send an apology email is that some marketers say thatthey are some of their best performing emails. I suppose its rubbernecking meets theinbox. For that reason, if youve made a big error and are apologizing for it, make it clearin the subject line. Even if someone wasnt affected by the problem, theyre likely to openthe email just to see what youre sorry about.
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Here are some examples of apology email subject lines from the past 12 months:

Barnes & Noble, 3/24 Correction: This Week -- Coupons, Exclusive Twilight DVD Offer,Jonathan Kellerman, Walter Mosley, More

SmartBargains, 3/20 We apologize - here are more rewards for you.Road Runner Sports, 2/17/09 Our Apologies. You Deserve This Gift.Harry & David, 12/26/08 Correction: Up to 70% Off & FREE Shipping* on orders over $99SmartBargains, 12/11 Please Accept Our Apologies. Norm Thompson, 12/9 Oops! We made a mistake - please accept 20% SAVINGS CompUSA, 11/19 CORRECTION: New 19" Samsung LCD $149 (DVI, 3yr Warranty, Save

$100)...6gb PC $549 Lillian Vernon, 11/16 We Messed Up! Here's Your New Code for Our 15% Off StockingsNorm Thompson, 11/10 We're sorry... SmartBargains, 10/23 Please accept our apologies. Extra 25% off extended today. Walgreens, 9/30 Correction: Weekly Ad Savings, Coupons & Bonus Offers Norm Thompson, 9/23 Apologies for technical problems yesterday. FREE SHIPPING IS

STILL AVAILABLE!Road Runner, 9/15 Runner, we are truly sorry. Please accept this...Chadwicks, 8/8 Special Bulletin: Our apologies and a limited-time offer! AbeBooks, 8/5 We're Sorry - Here's a Coupon, Good Until August 19 J. Crew, 7/30 With our apologies... Chadwicks, 7/15 Please accept our sincere apologies... Kmart, 7/2 Correction: 4th of July Online Blowout Sale. 4 Days Only! Ann Taylor, 5/9 Technical difficulty for us...25% OFF for you! Neiman Marcus, 5/7 Oops! The site is back up! Enjoy FREE SHIPPING at ANY price.

3. Give them a reason to forgive you.

If you want to increase the effectiveness of your apology, give your subscribers acompelling reason to forgive you. Youll notice that the majority of subject lines aboveincluded a reference to an incentive or reward.

For instance, if you have server problems that stop some of your customers from takingadvantage of an email offer, extend the offer. Thats what SmartBargains did in a Dec.12 email (1TUFig. 5 U1T) when website sluggishness prevented some of their subscribers fromactivating the discount in their Secret Santa email. You dont want customers to feel likethey missed out because of your mistake.

4. Know when to use humor and when to be serious.You can try to laugh off relatively minor mistakes, especially if your brands emailpersonality is a little whimsical or jokey. People appreciate it when you poke fun atyourself, especially when no one was seriously impacted by your mistake. For instance,in a May 7 email (1TUFig. 6 U1T), Neiman Marcus uses the image of a woman writing lines on ablack board to inject a little humor into their apology. And in an Aug. 5 apology email(1TUFig. 7 U1T), AbeBooks blames vampires for their problems telling subscribers about thelatest book by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer.


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However, the safer play in most cases for most brands is a straightforward, sincereapology that shows that you respect your subscribers time.

5. When its r eally bad, have it s igned by an executive.

When its serious, you escalate itup to the head of customer service, to a VP, to theCEO. 2TFor instance, in a 2TJuly 30 email (1TUFig. 8 U1T), J. Crew apologizes for website and callcenter problems in an email signed by two executives as a sign that they take the issueseriously. In a rather bizarre apology, an Aug. 13 Overstock email (1TUFig. 9 U1T) used theCEOs occasional column to apologize for a typo that apparently created aninappropriate message.

6. Dont make excuses. Jus t fix the problem.

People dont care why a problem occurred so much as what youve done or are going todo to fix it. For instance, in an Aug. 4 email (1TUFig. 10 U1T), Spiegel assures subscribers that

the problem has been corrected. Keep any explanation of what went wrong to aminimum, as J. Crew did in the previously mentioned apology email ( 1TUFig. 8 U1T).

After you apologizeand preferably even beforemake sure the problem is fixed. If youhave to apologize repeatedly for the same problem, your customers wont believe thatyoure truly sorry. If youre prone to deployment problems or coding errors, put a processin place to eliminate or at least reduce those errors. If your servers keep gettingoverloaded, find a way to expand your capacity.

7. Dont make a mistake in the apology email.

This may seem obvious but weve seen this happen on more than one occasion. Forexample, on March 30, 2007, MLB sent an email with the subject line Watch the CivilRights Game LIVE on ESPN. The email was completely blank. The next day theyapparently tried to correct the mistake by resending the email, even using the samesubject line. That email was also completely blank. If youre really sorry, make sure thatthe apology email or any resend is flawless.

And this year, after sending a Dec. 11 email (1TUFig. 11 U1T) that apologized for a malfunctionin their Secret Santa email promotion, SmartBargains had to send another apology (1TUFig.5 U1T) when the response to the now-functional promotion overwhelmed their website.Although in this case the problems were different, the back-to-back apologies still lookedbad.

Good Luck!

We hope that youll be able to avoid making any major mistakes, but if you find yourselfneeding to issue an apology, follow this advice and your subscribers will be more likelyto forgive you.


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Creative GalleryFig. 1: This Dec. 26 Harry & David email had the subject line Correction: Up to 70% Off &FREE Shipping* on orders over $99 and followed an email earlier in the day for the same salethat had the subject line After-Christmas SALE: Up to 40% OFF! >1TUBack U1T

Fig. 2: This Dec. 22 CompUSA email didnt indicate in the subject line that it was an apologyemail, but it included a prominent preheader text message. >1TUBack U1T


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Fig. 3: This July 15 Chadwicks email dedicated the entire email to the apology and prominentlyfeatured an incentive to reengage affected subscribers. >1TUBack U1T


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Fig. 4: Norm Thompso n has created an email template for their apology emails, allowing themto respond quickly when mistakes or outages occur. Below is a Dec. 9 email. >1TUBack U1T

Fig. 5: In this Dec. 12 email, SmartBargains extends the maximum discount offered in theirSecret Santa email. >1TU Back U1T


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Fig. 6: In this May 7 email, Neiman Marcus uses a little humor to try to recover from a siteoutage. >1TU Back U1T


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Fig. 7: In this Aug. 5 email, AbeBooks blames vampires for their problems telling subscribersabout the latest book by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. >1TUBack U1T


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Fig. 8: In this July 30 email, J. Crew apologizes for website and call center problems and has theemail signed by two executives for extra sincerity umph . However, the email doesnt givesubscribers any reason to accept the apologyand worse, the subject line, With ourapologies sets the expectation that there will be a reward or incentive in the email. >1TUBack U1T

Fig. 9: In this Aug. 13 email, Overstock has their CEO, Patrick Byrne, apologizing for a typo thatlead to an inappropriate message. >1TUBack U1T


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Fig. 10: In this Aug. 4 email, Spiegel assures subscribers that the problems affecting their sitesperformance has been fixed, and they have the message signed by the president and CEO.>1TUBack U1T


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Fig. 11: In this Dec. 11 email, SmartBargains apologizes for their Secret Santa email promotionnot functioning properly. However, after sending this email, the response overwhelmed theirwebsite, prompting the need to send another apology ( 1TUFig. 5 U1T). >1TUBack U1T


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Abou t the Author

Chad White is the Research Director at Smith-Harmon, an email marketing strategy and creative

services agency. The founder and author of the 1TU

Retail Email BlogU1T

, Chad is an authority on emailmarketing strategies and trends in the retail industry. He regularly writes research reports on

email marketing best practices and trends, is an Email Insider columnist for MediaPost, is an

active member of the Email Experience Council, and supports Smith-Harmon clients with his

advice and exclusive research.

Abou t Smith-Har mon, Inc.

Smith-Harmon is a unique agency providing email marketing strategy and creative services.

Since its founding in 2003, Smith-Harmon has developed a stellar reputation for email expertise,maximizing performance and driving results for leading brands from Alaska Airlines to Williams-

Sonoma. Service offerings include email strategy consulting that includes innovative engagement

tactics, training in-house teams to become email experts, and email creative services. Beyond

serving clients, Smith-Harmon is an active member of the email marketing community, helping to

develop best practices with its research and outreach efforts and its leadership roles with the

Email Experience Council and the Email Marketing Roundtable.

For more information, visit 1TUhttp://www.smith-harmon.com U1T
http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/http://www.retailemailblog.com/http://www.smith-harmon.com/

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