Discouraging the "Oops! Broken Link!" Tactic/Excuse on Lists

When it comes to being on a list, there is a tactic I don't like. Well, actually, there are many, but today I'm only talking about a specific one.

That is the tactic of using the "Oops! Broken link!" as an excuse to send another eMail.

I have seen in this forum people that complain about this supposed "guru" tactic and frequently they are attacked for it. You'll see the arguments that, well, maybe they did make a mistake and then, naturally, they have to correct it. You'll hear the arguments that it's not a tactic, but merely an accident. After all, we do know that some of these "gurus" are not the most technically skilled people.

It doesn't bother me if someone makes a mistake and tries to correct it. I would hope they would correct it, especially if it's an offer I'm interested in.

I know firsthand that it is easy to make a mistake and put the wrong URL in a message to your list. I did that once and lost a big chunk of subscribers. (The URL I mistakenly entered was completely unrelated to the list.)

Thus far, I've only made that mistake once.

I don't send out as many eMails as others, so I haven't had as great an opportunity to make a mistake as those who eMail more frequently. But, even given that, a lot of marketers seem to make that mistake a lot.

A LOT!

Or, are they?

Now, when I'm on a list and I notice that the marketer is frequently claiming to have mistakenly sent the wrong URL in their previous message, I go back and check. To err is human, and I can understand making a mistake and turning around to correct it.

What I do not like is them using that as an excuse to send another eMail on the same topic, in the hopes of attracting my attention.

So, I check.

If the URLs in the current eMail are the exact same URLs in the previously sent eMail, I click the unsubscribe link and I get off that list.

I unsubscribed from one list this morning for that very reason. I unsubscribed to another a few weeks ago.

If they want to send a second eMail, they can come up with a better excuse, and not try to deceive me. My thought is that, if they are willing to deceive me on one thing, what else are they willing to deceive me on?

Sorry, but there is a trust factor and deceptive practices break that trust.

I can't stop people from using tactics like this, but I can choose not to stay on their lists or buy from them.

If we all do that, it will have an impact.

The next time you get one of those "Oops! Broken link!" eMails, go back and check it against the previously sent eMail.

Then, act accordingly.