How to write a debug email (tips, best practices) (2023)

How to write a bug fix emailI wantwill appear in your email career.

It is unavoidable.

No matter how careful you are, no matter how many people check your messages, no matter how much experience you have -mistakes happen.

So…what do you do when you make a mistakein an email campaign?

At GMass, we've helped people send over 4 billion emails - and yes, some of them included apologies.

In this article, I will guide you step by stepbest email error reply technique we've seen.

I will also discuss a fewadvice on assessing and planning remediation;after a campaign error.

And hey, it doesn't matter what you're doing wrong, remember that. At least you weren't AdidasMissionan email to runners with the subject "Congratulations, you survived the Boston Marathon!" just a few years after the Boston Marathon bombing.

How to write a debug email: table of contents

• A step-by-step guide to sending a corrective email
• 6 tips for sending corrections by email
• How to write a bug-correction email: takeaway requests and next steps

A step-by-step guide to sending a corrective email

Thethe most effective techniqueDid we see an option to send a bug fix email? Sendquick and easy tracking, e.ganswerin the wrong campaign.

Collect a list of everyone who received the previous campaign

First of all, you shouldmake a list of everyone who received the error campaign.

Our preferred technique isuse GMasssegmentation function. Isquick and easy wayto include everyone from the wrong campaign in the list for this tracking.

You can compile the list withby clicking on the folder iconto the right of the Gmail search bar...

...or by opening a compose window in Gmail by clicking an optionIkona Gmassto the right of the To field, then selectFrom another campaign.

Then select the wrong campaign in the pop-up windowPrevious campaignsdescription.

and chooseSentas a group for your new follower. This will ensure that your email update is sent to everyone who received the first campaign. (Although GMass will automatically filter out any email addresses thatreboundedtheunregistered membership.)

ClickCreate a continuationbutton. Now you'll have everything from the previous campaign in a new list in the Gmail editor.

Campaign email revision template

lets go tothree thingswith our email fix:

• Repentant
• Directly
• Don't treat it as life or death, because it isn't

You don't have to whip yourself or beg for mercy from your subscribers. We don't have to say, "We're very sorry for this unforgivable mistake. If you want to unsubscribe, we understand and we will never forgive each other."

Just admit when you're wrong... share your fix or apology... use your brand voice if you can... and get in and out quickly.

Here is an example:

Oops, we did it again.

This morning we sent you this email ☝️ with a broken link to our sale.

Evoreal connection.

– Your friends at [Company]

Submit your campaign in response

Note that I haven't opened a thread. It's becausewe will email this fix asanswerin the previous campaign.

Is theremany benefits of submitting correction in response:

• It givescontext; anyone can immediately refer to the previous email in the thread.
• And by the way, thisallows you to make email proofreading fun and concise.
• That's what makes it sorecipients won't open the original email and realize there's a patch in itelsewhere in your inbox. With this technique, the correction corresponds to the original.
• Doit doesn't look like you're clogging up your recipients' inboxes. Put your email in a neat thread instead.
• He feels "human".If you mistyped someone in a one-on-one email, you'll send a correction in response. You're doing it on a grand scale here, but with an organic vibe.
• If you somehow got lost in the correction of the e-mail - it happens - you can also send the correction in response. You'll keep it all in one email thread.

With GMass, it's easyin response, send a corrective e-mail.

open itokvir GMass settingsto correct the email and scroll down toAdvancedUnity.

tySend asClickAnswersradio button.

Select the wrong campaign from the drop-down menu.

And you're ready. Now when you send this campaign it will be a reply on the same subject as the email you made a mistake in.

Now you havecorrect my email(and we're guessing you won't see many unsubscribes with this humble and concise method).

6 tips for sending corrections by email

Here are best practices for evaluating the damage of an email error and writing and sending a rectification or apology.

1. No shipping won't save you

Email platforms like Gmail and Outlook have a built-in undo option. But they have bothsmallthe time frame in which they will work. So if you don't realize your mistake within a few seconds... you're out of luck.

And because of the way email works,you can't "recall" a sent email. Once an email leaves the Gmail or Outlook ecosystem, it will be picked up by other email servers. You also can't recall e-mail from other servers - e-mail protocols don't work that way.

Are youyou will not be able to "undo" your exit from it.

2. Evaluate whether to send a correction

Tyneedsend another e-mail correcting your mistake?

If you made a typo, it's annoying, but probably not worth fixing. And why throw light on your mistake to people who didn't notice it?

(You'll have to live with the eternal shame of sending a few thousand people a headline saying "You're in luck.")

But they existother situations where youshouldsend another messagewith apology and/or correction:

• Broken link in a critical area (e.g. CTA)
• Invalid values
• Invalid discount code
• Confusion Aconnection signal(e.g. everyone received an email saying "Hello {FirstName!")
• Calling someone by the wrong name or using another wrong namepersonalizationin cold email
• Any other mistake that could cost you money, sales, or both

3. Hold tight

As we mentioned earlier in this post, since you are sending a correction in response to a previous campaign, you can and should be careful.

You don't need to create a custom apology graphic. You don't (hopefully) run a copy after 17 people.

Please keep your email address for correctionExactly, Send thisQuick, And youIYour audience can grow.

4. Don't appear petty

The audience doesn't care who made the mistake. Looks like when you transfer responsibility to your emailpetty at best, weak at worst.

I recently received this fix via email from the brand. (I won't embarrass them. That's the pointIsbe petty, right?) But notice how often they talk about who is to blame. I pointed this out in the email below.

Admit your mistake and admit it without shifting the blame.Apologies/corrections serve your customers, not you.

(Side note: never accuse an "intern" as a joke. Do you want people to think that the emails you send them are of such low priority that you outsourced them to an unpaid teenager?)

5. Try to keep it loose

You sent an error email. You realize it later... maybe minutes, maybe hours. Maybe after the client points it out. you panic. Your team panics. It's code red.

Meanwhile, as the cliché says,no one thinks about you as much as you think about you.

Plays on averageopen grading, most of your recipients didn't open your email to even notice your mistake. Even fewer clicks.

And while some were probably annoyed or disappointed by the mistake… everyone went about their business. Most people have forgotten about it.

All this needs to be said:This is not a life and death situation.

As a result, there's nothing wrong with emails being a bit casual. Unless you're a super-buttoned brand in the super-buttoned industry, you might be a little stingy.

Here is an example from the Alpha Paw pet store. They have kept all these apologies in brand and light (noteapologizewordplay).

This apology email is also nothing like a correction email, which we will cover in the next step…

6. Try to turn your mistake into an opportunity

Today I am full of clichés (as well as cake scraps), but as John F. Kennedy said, “The Chinese word for crisis is two characters. One is a risk, the other is an opportunity.

Now we know that he slightly misinterpreted the Chinese characters, but the spirit of the stereotype remained. There is honest faithrelationship between crisis and opportunity.

In addition, when sending a corrective email:

• I getanother chance to introduce your brand to your customers.
• Register multiple peopleattention for the second time in one day.
• Use the human instinct of empathy and turn an awkward moment into achance to increase brand awareness.

So don't be afraidmake a new (and better) offer in an apology email.

Create a special coupon code. Extend the contract. Offer a unique bonus.

Who knows? Maybe a mistake will turn into a finemoreeffective campaign for you.

How to write a bug-correction email: takeaway requests and next steps

Mistakes happenin email campaigns. (Try searching your email for "ouch" for a surprisingly high frequency.)

So if you make a mistake with your email campaign and need to send an email to fix it, here's what you can do:

• Make a listeveryone who won the original campaign.
• Write onea short, contrite apology.
• Check if there is a way to do thattake advantage of the error.
• Please submit an apology/correction as:answerin the initial campaign.

As I showed in the article, GMass is an easy way to send a new campaign in response.

But if you don't use GMass - it's useful for much more than killer apology messages.

GMass has more than that300,000 userswho love himindustry-leading features for cold email, email marketing and mail merge- Or all of the above.

Get started for freeAfterdownload extension for chrome. And you willsend 50 emails a day for free- exploitationAllGMass - until you're ready to upgrade.