Internet Marketing Discounts: If Superheroes Were Email Marketers…

What would it be like to be on Batman’s mailing list?

What would happen if the Joker stole his list?

We spend a lot of time pointing out what real email marketers are doing, but we never consider our fictional superheroes.

Find out how we think superheroes (and their arch enemies!) would fare in the email marketing world. Would you be like Superman, Batman, Spiderman or Thor?

Superman: The Transparent Marketer

Who doesn’t know Superman? His brand is everywhere, and he uses it to help his marketing.

His strength is his transparency. Superman always:

Brands his emails with his logo
Includes all his contact information where he can be easily reached
Adheres to his privacy policy
Promptly delivers the free content promised at sign up

You’re safe with Superman! But what if you wind up in the hands of…

Lex Luthor: The Corrupt Marketer

Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor is ruthless. He’ll try and get subscribers any way he can: stealing, mining and scraping addresses are all in a day’s work.

You can also expect him to sell subscriber information for cold, hard cash.

And by the way, don’t even bother trying to contact him on that no-reply address.

Batman: The Creative Marketer

Batman carries over his smart, creative ideas into his email marketing campaigns.

You know his emails will be interesting, to say the least. Batman always:

Split tests his messages- he’s on a quest to find the perfect design
Experiments with different calls to action
Creates some pretty sweet apps to work with the AWeber API
Analyzes his reports to learn what’s working

Batman is bound to impress you! Just hope your information doesn’t get taken from him by….

The Joker: The Psychotic Marketer

The Joker has one goal: get Batman’s list and wreak havoc. Once he does that, he plans to LOL as he sends you the most ridiculous spam he can find.

This won’t just be a one time thing either. The Joker will get a kick out of doing this several times a day. He’s not too concerned about subscriber fatigue, he just wants a good laugh.

Spiderman: The Personal Marketer

Your favorite neighborhood superhero is probably one of your favorite email marketers as well.

He sends personalized messages and loves to start conversations with his subscribers. Spiderman always:

Uses segments to send more relevant content to each subscriber
Engages subscribers by asking questions and requesting feedback
Shares his emails with Facebook and Twitter friends
Sends blog broadcasts so his subscribers can keep up with his blog updates

When you see you have an email from Spiderman, you know it’ll be something you’ll like. However, the same doesn’t go for…

Green Goblin: The Abusive Marketer

Green Goblin is the email marketer with a superiority complex: he thinks everyone should read his emails.

All he does is send the same thing over and over again. Want to get off his list? Good luck getting that unsubscribe request processed. He doesn’t have one!

Green Goblin doesn’t care who he hurts in order to achieve his goals.

Thor: The Wise Marketer

As a god who wants to protect humans against evil, you can bet Thor would be a respectful and wise marketer.

Thor likes to teach others about best practices, and uses them in his own campaign. Thor always:

Sends a confirmation message to new subscribers
Sets expectations and follows the expectations he’s set
Asks subscribers to whitelist him
Always sends messages relevant to what the subscriber requested

Thor makes sure the email marketing world is safe and subscribers feel respected. His jealous stepbrother has another agenda though..

Loki: The Lying Marketer

Being Thor’s stepbrother has to be hard…but really, Loki? Do you have to take it out on your subscribers?

Don’t get trapped into signing up to Loki’s list. Loki doesn’t set expectations, and if it looks like he is, he’s just going to do the opposite of what he said.

Loki loves making mischief, and his spam complaints are piling up!