Planning email marketing? Here’s a list of twenty one key actions that’ll help your campaign stand out from the spam.
21 ways to make email marketing work
-
Keep it short or people won’t bother reading it
-
Write in plain language, never use jargon
-
Make one single rock solid proposition, avoid multiple propositions
-
Keep your tone calm and tell the absolute truth
-
Avoid using too many exclamation marks, colours, font sizes and styles
-
Make believeable, realistic propositions. People are put off when an offer seems far too good to be true
-
Format your email into short paragraphs split by headers and subheads for 100% visual clarity
-
Use a friendly display name in the ‘from’ box rather than a bare email address
-
Write a strong, compelling subject line that encourages people to open your message
-
Use your company name in the subject line to enhance trust
-
Provide an opt out every time
-
Buy or build your own targeted lists of opted-in prospects. Always avoid illegal lists
-
Include full, accurate contact details in every message
-
Don’t forget your call to action… and make it work HARD
-
Make life as easy as possible for people who want to respond. If you want people to visit a web page include a direct link in the body of the email
-
If someone asks you a question reply as fast as humanly possible
-
Remove people from your mailing list immediately on request
-
Test different approaches on small segments until you’ve established what works best. Then roll out
-
Send your email at a sensible time… not at midnight, not 9am Monday morning, and not during December and August when half the northern hemisphere’s on holiday
-
Collect and analyse campaign results accurately then use the intelligence they deliver to improve future campaigns
-
Don’t expect magic. Despite what some people and organisations claim, online marketing is just as challenging as offline marketing always was. There are no miracles and no short cuts. Exercise persistence, determination and patience
