Tip #2: Have An Eye-Catching and Compelling Subject Line.
Subject lines are one the most critical components of the e-mail marketing mix and should be carefully crafted and tested before any major rollout. Keep them clear, honest and brief (65 characters or less). Consider not using words that trigger spam filters like “free” and “limited time only”. But don’t throw those words out automatically. Spam filters and ISP spam policies are evolving rapidly and most filters toss out e-mail only when a combination of spam trigger words are used, including frequency of spam trigger words used in both the subject line and body.
In many cases, it’s a good idea to include your company name in the Subject line, especially if it is a recognizable brand name. This can reassure the recipient that your e-mail is from a trusted source.
Tip #3: Position Most Important Information at the Top (Including URLs).
The top portion of your e-mail should include the most critical information in your message, including why you are making contact, the call-to-action, and a URL (link) to a landing page for more information.
The URL serves a dual purpose in your e-mail marketing efforts. Not only does it allow you to direct recipients to a landing page where more detailed information about your offer can be presented, but it also lets you track response to your e-mail via click-throughs, an important measure of a successful campaign. Even if a click-through doesn’t result in a purchase, it shows that your e-mail mix was successful enough to get people’s attention.
In the case of many e-mail clients, including Microsoft Outlook, the top few lines of an e-mail message are almost as critical as the subject line. This is because many e-mail programs use auto-preview mode – causing the first few lines of an e-mail to show up in a preview window each time a subject line is highlighted.
This can present both challenges and opportunities to the e-mail marketer. The challenge is that many e-mail users with this type of e-mail software now use the auto-preview mode to scan the first few lines of an e-mail in order to decide whether or not to actually open the e-mail and read through it. The opportunity is that the auto-preview mode, like the subject line, is an additional opportunity to convince the reader to open the message.
Tip #4: Make it Brief and Easy to Read.
Not only are people busy, but they receive more and more commercial solicitations every day. Between postal mail, telemarketing calls, commercial faxes and e-mail, they have to make instant decisions about what to pay attention to. And with e-mail, the delete key is just a finger stroke away. So the chances are good you’ll have no more than a few seconds to convince your reader why he should take the time to read your e-mail.
The best way to do that is to make it short and sweet. Come right to the point and include your call to action in the top few sentences. Consider making your primary points stand out through the use of bullet points, especially when you’re marketing to senior level executives.
A basic rule of thumb is to include only the information you need to get your recipients to click through to a landing page for more detailed information. This respect for your recipient’s time will reflect favorably on your brand and will have the added benefit of allowing you to track response to your e-mail through click-throughs.
Tip #5: Fully Disclose All Company Contact Information.
Disclosing full company contact information prominently in your e-mail, including address, phone number(s), e-mail, fax, website address and a contact person, can improve response to your message simply by providing multiple response channels. But it can also give your e-mail message greater legitimacy. One key characteristic of spam, as defined by industry organizations addressing the issue, is e-mail that does not include company contact information.
Some companies choose not to include contact information such as a contact phone number in order to control costs. Yet any resulting savings in operational cost could be outweighed by opportunity loss. People clearly have developed communication preferences when responding to commercial solicitations, and accommodating these can result in higher response rates and better branding. Some people are more comfortable calling an 800 number. Others prefer to place an order or confirm a magazine subscription on a website. Still others prefer to send a fax.
Tip #6: Create Powerful and Persuasive Copy.
Engage an experienced e-mail copywriter to craft your message if possible. Include important features and benefits about your product or service while avoiding redundancy. If you can, use testimonial and third party endorsements to support your offer. Communicate timing and a sense of urgency in your message. For example, if your offer is for a free white paper or webcast, you might consider making registration available for a limited time only. If you are offering a discount or coupon, make it redeemable only for a short duration. Even if you do not have a limited-time offer, it is still possible to communicate a sense of urgency in your copy by touching on time-sensitive industry issues, for example.
Tip #7: Use Landing Pages.
As the e-mail marketing industry has matured, many companies have begun to incorporate landing pages into all their e-mail marketing campaigns and programs. Yet surprisingly, some companies still don’t include this critical component.
If your e-mail is offer-driven, recipients should always be directed to a landing page specifically designed around the offer – never to a generic home page. If people have to do any work to seek out information about your offer on your website, including click throughs to several pages, the chances are very good that you will lose them. Even worse, you run the risk of creating a bad brand image as most people will resent having to wade through your website to find the details of your offer on their own.
Tip #8: Clearly Communicate Your In-house Permission and Privacy Policies.
Whenever you rent e-mail lists from a third party, regardless of your sales goals, a primary objective should be to capture as many people as possible in your own permission-based e-mail file.
Yet in this era of increasing spam and privacy violations, many people are wary of subscribing to new e-mail lists. So if you want to get them to register for yours, it’s critical to assure them that your company follows sound privacy and permission policies.
Put clearly identified links to your privacy and permission policies in your e-mail and at any registration touch point on your website. Be very explicit about how their address will be used. Clearly explain what kind of information will be sent to them and at what frequency. Make sure to remind them that they can easily unsubscribe at any time and provide a clear and simple way to do it.
If individuals subscribe by registering on your website, direct them to confirm their subscription by responding to a confirmation e-mail. In the confirmation e-mail, include a reminder of the type of communications you will be sending and the frequency. This confirmation gives your company added legitimacy, and serves as a receipt, reminding the individual that they subscribed – and allowing them to unsubscribe in the event that they were registered by someone against their will.
Finally, make sure to carefully manage that trusted relationship going forward. An opt-in to receive your newsletter does not give you permission to send promotional e-mail or company updates unless you ask for permission. However, you might seek permission to send promotional offers or other information by seeding additional opt-in offers in your newsletter.
Tip #9: Consider Personalization.
Including the first name of your recipient in your e-mail (Dear Jack, etc.) will reinforce trust while creating a more personal connection with your audience. But personalization extends well beyond simple mail merge and includes segmenting your market and tailoring your marketing messages to the specific interests of your audience. For example, an e-tailer might consider sending out product recommendations based on a customer's past purchases. A software company making accounting and finance packages for the business market customers should consider segmenting their customers by size and tailoring a message to the specific needs of each customer. We’ll explore e-mail personalization in more detail in an upcoming tutorial.
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