Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Breaking up is hard to do - but it shouldn't be creepy

During my monthly clean-up of email lists that are no longer relevant to me, I unsubscribed from a company using a very simple process. Click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email, another window pops up, and you click Unsubscribe again to verify.

After that step, many companies have a page that say, "sorry to see you go" or "come back anytime" to keep a good repoire with that customer and that customer's network of friends. Website AppSumo had another approach.

This is what I saw when I unsubscribed:

Now although this is definitely memorable, it startled me and creeped me out at the same time. Unless you're in the porn business, I can't think of a time where it's appropriate to have a picture of yourself shirtless, most likely in bed, waving goodbye with a sour puss look on your face. Creeptastic!!

If you're going to go cute to be memorable, keep your clothes on and integrate the logo and branding of your company, not a picture of "Chief Sumo."