Email marketing might seem old school or outdated to some people, but in fact it is a great way for brands to stay connected with their customers. Many brand websites have some sort of check box where a customer can opt-in to receive email updates. Yet time and time again I come across a company that has been building a sizable email list and they never use it or they do not know how to use it. What good does it do you as a business owner or a brand if you don’t use this form of engagement that your customers have willingly signed up for?
Let’s take a look at show to set up a successful email program (these tips are written for those who already have their list of email opt-ins):
1.) Use a transparent “from” name. For example the name before the “@” should be transparent? Like “IceCreamNews@benandjerry.com” rather than just “admin@benandjerry.com”
2.) Use the subject line. The subject of the email is going to make people open it or trash it- so make it good. For example, if you are promoting a new site you want a very attention-grabbing subject line. If you are trying to market a product you might want a subject line of “Half off jeans this week!”
3.) Avoid slang and abbreviations. Keeping this in mind may separate your email from all the other spam that people get in their inboxes. It might be helpful to signup for a few get rich quick scams to see what kind of words or phrases they are using that convince you that they are spam- and then avoid using those words.
4.) Minimize the use of images. If the person you have sent this email to is forced wait too long for the email to load because of an image, chances are they will simple get tired of waiting and delete it and move on.
5.) Get in their address books. Remind readers to add you to their white lists or invite them to forward your messages to friends.
6.) Refrain from adding attachments. Many people will not open an email with an attachment for fear of getting a virus.
7.) Make it easy to unsubscribe to your messages. No matter how hard you try, there will always be someone who wants out. Don’t give them hard time over it.
This next one is probably the most important section of your email…
8.) Include a clear call-to-action. Make it clear what you want the reader to do. Do you want them to fill out a survey, click a link to go to your main site. or use a discount in the email to “Buy Now?” If you are ambiguous, they will not take time to guess.
9.) Metrics and Measurement. Don’t forget to track, refine, and optimize your email campaign. You should be using a combination of the tracking tools from your email service to track openings, deleting without opening, and other metrics. Each email blast provider seems to have there own set of tools, so make sure you know what they are before you start. You should also be using Google Analytics to track anyone that clicks through the email to your site.
Now you’ve followed the steps stated above you have metrics and you’re ready to go, right?
Well hold on a second cowboy- let’s talk for a minute about drafting a second email; the only changes will be the subject line and the marketing message in the body copy. Why do this? We need to have something to measure against. A/B testing is the best way to see what message grabbed the user’s attention and prompted them to open it and convert. From this type of test you can start to define that subject line in email “A” worked to get people to open it, but marketing message in the body copy of email “B” had more conversions. Using this data you can then start to construct the next email campaign including bits and pieces from both test emails. It should be noted that A/B testing is not a one time test; you should be constantly testing your messages to make sure you are sending optimized emails.
Designing your email template is something that should also be considered. Most emails are designed with a fixed width around 600 to 650 pixels. As we know from our mobile marketing presentation, the amount of people using smartphones is dramatically increasing. That said, most mobile email reads operate in the range of 320 pixels. I think it is time to stop using fixed width and start implementing elastic templates. It is very simple to do just that by replacing the fixed widths and other structure elements with an elastic 100% width. In the end the email recipient will be happier especially if they are reading them on a mobile device.
Who is doing email-marketing well? Banana Republic, Timberland and National Geographic are a few. And I have done better than just give you the names, I have found a great blog post about these brands so you can see what they are doing http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26899.asp
The whole point of this rambling is just to say lets not forget about email marketing and let’s not forget about that email list you have been building for the past few years.
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