Email Marketing Best Practices & Quick Tips

EmailMarketingBestPractices&QuickTipsClickonacategorybuttonbelowtoviewourgrowinglistofquicktips.WealsoencourageyoutosubscribetoourmonthlynewsletterIntevationReport.Creative:Design,Copywriting&ProgrammingPutMoreValueinYourTopLineAreyouwastingthemostvaluablerealestateinyouremailmessage?Youareifthefirstlinereadersseeisanegativestatementlikethis:Havingtroubleviewingthismessage?ClickheretoviewitonourWebsite.Thankstopreviewpanes,image-blockingandOutlook'sAutopreview,thismightbetheonlylinereadersseeinyouremail.So,youneedtogivethemabetterincentivetoscrollintotheemailorclicktotheWebversion.Rewriteyourtoplineeachtimesothatitreiteratesyourvaluepropositionorspecifiesthebenefitinthemessage:1.Offer-orientedmessage:(Customername),ifyouareunabletoproperlyviewyouremailtoreceivefreeshippingonyourorder,viewtheonlineversion(URL)orenterpromotionalcodeABCD1234throughAugust27thtoreceiveyourspecialsavings.2.Newsletter:Scrolldowntoreadwhyopenratesdon'treallymatter,orclicktoseeitonourWebsite(URL).Yes,itaddsmaybeaminuteofworkeachtimeyoucreateamessage,butitcouldbeyourmostvaluableminute.SevenTipstoImproveYourEmailProgram’sUsability1.Designastandardbox(inHTML)orcopyblock(intext)thatincludesallimportantsubscriptiondata:theemailaddressusedtosubscribe,yourcompanynameandcontactdata,instructionsonhowtochangepreferences,anunsublink(separatefromthereader-preferencepage),alinktoyourprivacypolicyoranabbreviatedstatementofitandanyotherrelevantinformation.2.Labeleachactionclearlyandseparately:Changeyouraddress/Updateyourpreferenceshere;unsubscribehere.3.Placethisinformationinthesamelocationinallmessages,whatevertheformat.Neartheendworksbest.Whereveryouputit,doitthesamewayinallmessages.4.DedicateaWebpagetoreaderpreferencechanges.Don'tconfuseitspurposewithothergoalsoractions.5.Allowreaderstochangetheirpreferencesbycheckinganduncheckingboxes.Listtheirnewpreferencesonaseparatepagebeforetheynavigateawayfromit,butdon'taskthemtotakeyetanothersteptoconfirmthem.6.Maketheunsublinkstandout;labelitclearlyanddon'tsurrounditwithextracopyormakeithardtofind.7.Movetoaoneortwo-clickunsubscribeprocess.11TipstoMakeYourEmailMessagesMeaningfulandRelevant1.Useyourcompanyorbrandnameinthefromline,whichtellsrecipientswhosenttheemail.2.Writeabrief(sixwordsorlessisideal)subjectlinethataccuratelyrepresentsthemessage’smajorcontent.LongersubjectlinesareOK,justmakesureeachwordiscriticalandthemostimportantareinthefirst50characters–thosethatfollowwillgetcutoffinmanyemailclients.Includetheemail’stitle,ifithasone(suchasanewslettertitle).Ifyoucan't,thenincludeyourcompany,divisionorbrandnameinthefromline.Listitfirsthere.3.KeepHTML-formatmessagesassimpleaspossible.ThemoregizmosyoupackintoanHTMLmessage--superfluousimages,graphics,soundorvideo--themorelikelysomethingwon'tworkonyourrecipients'computers.Storerich-mediacontentontheWeb;limitimagesizeandusecolorsthatreflectyourlogo.4.InHTMLmessages,usealttagsandsupporttextaroundimagessothatreaderswhoseemailclientsblockimagesbydefaultwillstillgetthegistofyourmessage.Manyemailclientswillalsoblockalttags,sogooduseoftextiskey.5.Ifyouofferatextversion(readwhyhere),makesurethecontentincludeslinkstoallofyourcorefunctionsandtasks.Don'tforcereaderstoclicktotheWebversionofyournewslettertoreceiveitsbenefitsormanagetheirsubscriptions.6.Loaduponrelevantlinks.IfyourgoalistofunnelreaderstoyourWebsite,givethemmanyaccesspoints,suchastwoorthreeorderbuttonssprinkledaroundapromomessageinsteadofjustone,orlinkstorelatedinformationonyoursite.You'veprobablygotawealthofinfoatyoursite;makeiteasyforyourreaderstofindit.7.Losethegenericactionbutton.Insteadofclickhere,usedescriptivetermssuchasOrdernow!orsubscribeme!orGetwhitepaperhere.Beexplicitabouttheactionsyouwantuserstotake.8.Testeachemailmessagebeforeyousendit,indifferentbrowsers(InternetExplorer,Firefox,Opera,etc.),emailclients(Outlook,LotusNotes,Gmail,Yahoo!)andplatforms(MacintoshandPC).Clickeachlink;watchoutforodditiesandinconsistenciesinthewayimagesload(ordon'tload)andintextfontsandwidths.9.Adheretoyourusers'preferencesforfrequency,formatandcontent.Ifyoukeepsendingpromoofferstopeoplewhosignedupjustforthenewsletter,you'lllosethem.10.However,youcanpromoteyourotherpublicationsinyourmessages,aslongasthosepromosdon'tgetinthewayofthemaincontent.Forexample,addabriefproductofferattheendorsideofanewsletterorannouncementmessage,orlistheadlinesfromrelevantnewsstoriesinapromotional-offermessage.Thisway,youcanpromoteotherproductsandserviceswithoutcommittingreaderstoextraemails.11.Helpreadersmanageyourinformation.Includeaforward-to-a-friendlinkinmessageswhereappropriateandaprintoptionthatlinkstoaprinter-friendlyversionofanHTMLmessage.Labelthosefunctions,eitherwithiconsorbrieftext.DesigningYourEmailsfortheInboxUseGoodDesign&FormatWeakdesignsandimproperformatfrustratesusers.Theycan’tnavigateyouremaileasilyorfindtheinformationtheywant.So,theyoptout.Or,theydeleteyoueverytime.Or,theyhitthe“ReportSpam”buttonandhopethatmakesyougoaway.That’swhyyoutestsamplemessages,tomakesuretheyperformacrossmanyemailprogramsandWebservices.Differentia