E-mail on sites services
This post concerns not only the letters themselves, but also how they are used on user services. When writing an article, I tried to move away from particulars, except for citing them as an example.
Topics covered:
The seemingly strange question throws many developers into a stupor when you ask them to drop the usual patterns from the experience of receiving emails from third-party services. Most follow the beaten track, sending emails to users for:
Approximately a similar list of people begin to give out when you ask them similar questions. But is it? Not!
')
Users need to send emails to receive information.
The above list is a special case of a thesis on this issue. By e-mail the user receives information:
And now, based on the needs of the user and the focus / features of your service, you can build your list.
The question also seems simple enough at first glance, but I can assure you that not everyone thinks about it - and in vain.
Mail should be sent in case of an event in which the user is interested.
It's simple, isn't it? Not true. Consider simple examples based on two sites known to you: Habr and Facebook.
I sit on Habré. Asked a question . From Habr not leaving. For each new top-level comment, I receive a notification in the mail. Thank. For each response to the comment - do not come. No thanks. (I am silent about the absence of branching)
There was a reasonable question - why should I notify the mail that a comment came to my question if I am right now sitting on this site? It is more logical to send me a notice right on it and issue a notification without clogging the mailbox and wasting resources on sending an email. The second question is why doesn’t I hear about the response to a comment? They concern me just as much as the top level comments.
Facebook has a wonderful mechanism where I can see notifications about events related to the actions on the pages subject to me. But the same question - why should I duplicate email notifications if I'm currently on the site? I agree on the need for these email notifications only if I received a notice on the site, but did not read it, while leaving the site.
On behalf of the service, some will say, on behalf of the administration of the service, others will add. And they will be right. Partly.
Email should come on behalf of the service representative.
The representative of the service can be both a private person and a legal one. Maybe a group of like-minded people. Or your pet, if you have made for him a fan site for a narrow circle of people.
There is nothing terrible (and even vice versa) to receive an email with a notification from Vasi Pupkin that he responded to my comment in his blog. How do I know that the letter came from him? Of course, in the return address - his email address, his name, and in the text his personal address to me.
If I receive a letter from a large service, it is more convenient to see the client or technical support service as a sender, or the administration, but not no-replay @, robot @, etc. And even if from no-replay @, then in reply-to - there should be an address specified. Why? Look further ...
About communication with the robot has already been written repeatedly, this topic has been discussed hundreds of times. To exclude robot-like texts, it is sufficient to use user-specified data: gender, address, age, time zone. Under each case, it is quite possible to come up with a letter template in human language, without the abundant use of specific terms and intricate word turns.
In the message headers, the address of the service or its generally accepted name and the wording of the purpose of this letter must be indicated. This will help the user to understand his main message before reading.
In notifications and instructions, it is advisable to use short, but precise wording on such as “The site has sent a request to reset the password to enter your personal account” instead of “You or someone else today at 6:35 pm filed on the site bobr-ne-dobr. ru request for password recovery "(by the way, the phrase that the letter should be simply ignored if the user did not do this - everything should be used, because inexperienced users can go and change the password every time they write. Although it may be good ?)
If a letter received a notification about a new comment or a LAN, it is necessary to include the text itself in the letter. Additional hits on the site are good, but taking care of the user is even better (they won't thank you, but they won't be annoyed once again). Before the text you need to insert a link to read the message directly on the site, and after the text - on the form with the answer.
If the letter is a regular mailing list - at the bottom of the letter there should be a link, clicking on which the user can unsubscribe by one-click. Additional confirmation directly on the site is necessary if the user accidentally clicked, but do not overload the reply with additional actions - do not (some services are asked to log in, go to the mailing list, arrange / remove a bunch of daws, click on the button, then confirm). If the letter is an event notification, you must provide a link to manage event notifications. Log in to your personal account should also be carried out without entering additional parameters - immediately to the desired page.
Additional notifications and links, reminders of the existence of additional and new project features can be included in any type of letter. A link to the main page and, if necessary, a link to the entrance to the user's personal account must be included. such reminders and notifications will help to increase the frequency of using specific services, and links to the main page and to your personal account will reduce the number of clicks before performing the operations required by the user.
It is advisable to include the name of the service representative and his contact information in all letters. Except email. Why? See previous question. The user will not need to perform any additional actions for communication via e-mail, except for clicking on the "reply" button.
On this issue in 2006, I conducted an experiment - when receiving a newsletter with a notification about the release of a new multimedia journal, users saw the phrase below like “PS Oh, by the way! You can reply to this letter as many times as you like! ;) Each message will be reviewed and, if necessary, refined. ”The response was surprisingly pleasant - about 10% of the subscribers responded to the letter, some of them asked questions about which later correspondence was conducted. The rest simply thanked for the pleasant message in the letter that made them smile.
Is it worth too much time to consider this issue? How many times have you personally not answered the support service or the site administration? And how many times did you write to the specified address, and in response received a letter with a notification about the absence of such a mailbox?
At the moment, unfortunately, the situation on this issue is very deplorable. Why are only some classmates. There, with whom my wife stopped dealing a couple of months ago, after not being able to log in to her account, 20 people tried to recover the password and wrote to the support team all summer. And her friend did get through to the support service and even sent them a passport scan to confirm her identity - she was sent.
You do not need users? Send them. And even better - do not answer. Aggression causes aggression, and indifference - insult.
PS
One day. I tried to write shorter, but if additional reasoning or justification is required, I am ready to continue. Thanks for attention.
Topics covered:
- Why do you need to send emails to the user
- When should mail be sent
- On behalf of which the letter should come
- What you need to write in letters
- Processing response messages
Why send emails to a user?
The seemingly strange question throws many developers into a stupor when you ask them to drop the usual patterns from the experience of receiving emails from third-party services. Most follow the beaten track, sending emails to users for:
- registration confirmation;
- update notifications;
- notification of receipt of intra-service drugs;
- notifications about the response to posts and comments;
- receiving the mailing chosen by him;
- etc ...
Approximately a similar list of people begin to give out when you ask them similar questions. But is it? Not!
')
Users need to send emails to receive information.
The above list is a special case of a thesis on this issue. By e-mail the user receives information:
- how to proceed with registration, confirm your email address;
- about the events on the site;
- reminders;
- in the form of articles or a set of necessary data;
- etc ...
And now, based on the needs of the user and the focus / features of your service, you can build your list.
When should I send mail?
The question also seems simple enough at first glance, but I can assure you that not everyone thinks about it - and in vain.
Mail should be sent in case of an event in which the user is interested.
It's simple, isn't it? Not true. Consider simple examples based on two sites known to you: Habr and Facebook.
Example with habr
I sit on Habré. Asked a question . From Habr not leaving. For each new top-level comment, I receive a notification in the mail. Thank. For each response to the comment - do not come. No thanks. (I am silent about the absence of branching)
There was a reasonable question - why should I notify the mail that a comment came to my question if I am right now sitting on this site? It is more logical to send me a notice right on it and issue a notification without clogging the mailbox and wasting resources on sending an email. The second question is why doesn’t I hear about the response to a comment? They concern me just as much as the top level comments.
Facebook example
Facebook has a wonderful mechanism where I can see notifications about events related to the actions on the pages subject to me. But the same question - why should I duplicate email notifications if I'm currently on the site? I agree on the need for these email notifications only if I received a notice on the site, but did not read it, while leaving the site.
On whose behalf should the letter come?
On behalf of the service, some will say, on behalf of the administration of the service, others will add. And they will be right. Partly.
Email should come on behalf of the service representative.
The representative of the service can be both a private person and a legal one. Maybe a group of like-minded people. Or your pet, if you have made for him a fan site for a narrow circle of people.
There is nothing terrible (and even vice versa) to receive an email with a notification from Vasi Pupkin that he responded to my comment in his blog. How do I know that the letter came from him? Of course, in the return address - his email address, his name, and in the text his personal address to me.
If I receive a letter from a large service, it is more convenient to see the client or technical support service as a sender, or the administration, but not no-replay @, robot @, etc. And even if from no-replay @, then in reply-to - there should be an address specified. Why? Look further ...
What is necessary to write in letters?
About communication with the robot has already been written repeatedly, this topic has been discussed hundreds of times. To exclude robot-like texts, it is sufficient to use user-specified data: gender, address, age, time zone. Under each case, it is quite possible to come up with a letter template in human language, without the abundant use of specific terms and intricate word turns.
In the message headers, the address of the service or its generally accepted name and the wording of the purpose of this letter must be indicated. This will help the user to understand his main message before reading.
In notifications and instructions, it is advisable to use short, but precise wording on such as “The site has sent a request to reset the password to enter your personal account” instead of “You or someone else today at 6:35 pm filed on the site bobr-ne-dobr. ru request for password recovery "(by the way, the phrase that the letter should be simply ignored if the user did not do this - everything should be used, because inexperienced users can go and change the password every time they write. Although it may be good ?)
If a letter received a notification about a new comment or a LAN, it is necessary to include the text itself in the letter. Additional hits on the site are good, but taking care of the user is even better (they won't thank you, but they won't be annoyed once again). Before the text you need to insert a link to read the message directly on the site, and after the text - on the form with the answer.
If the letter is a regular mailing list - at the bottom of the letter there should be a link, clicking on which the user can unsubscribe by one-click. Additional confirmation directly on the site is necessary if the user accidentally clicked, but do not overload the reply with additional actions - do not (some services are asked to log in, go to the mailing list, arrange / remove a bunch of daws, click on the button, then confirm). If the letter is an event notification, you must provide a link to manage event notifications. Log in to your personal account should also be carried out without entering additional parameters - immediately to the desired page.
Additional notifications and links, reminders of the existence of additional and new project features can be included in any type of letter. A link to the main page and, if necessary, a link to the entrance to the user's personal account must be included. such reminders and notifications will help to increase the frequency of using specific services, and links to the main page and to your personal account will reduce the number of clicks before performing the operations required by the user.
It is advisable to include the name of the service representative and his contact information in all letters. Except email. Why? See previous question. The user will not need to perform any additional actions for communication via e-mail, except for clicking on the "reply" button.
On this issue in 2006, I conducted an experiment - when receiving a newsletter with a notification about the release of a new multimedia journal, users saw the phrase below like “PS Oh, by the way! You can reply to this letter as many times as you like! ;) Each message will be reviewed and, if necessary, refined. ”The response was surprisingly pleasant - about 10% of the subscribers responded to the letter, some of them asked questions about which later correspondence was conducted. The rest simply thanked for the pleasant message in the letter that made them smile.
Processing response messages
Is it worth too much time to consider this issue? How many times have you personally not answered the support service or the site administration? And how many times did you write to the specified address, and in response received a letter with a notification about the absence of such a mailbox?
At the moment, unfortunately, the situation on this issue is very deplorable. Why are only some classmates. There, with whom my wife stopped dealing a couple of months ago, after not being able to log in to her account, 20 people tried to recover the password and wrote to the support team all summer. And her friend did get through to the support service and even sent them a passport scan to confirm her identity - she was sent.
You do not need users? Send them. And even better - do not answer. Aggression causes aggression, and indifference - insult.
PS
One day. I tried to write shorter, but if additional reasoning or justification is required, I am ready to continue. Thanks for attention.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/107843/
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