Email marketing is not dead, but at this stage in history people have a very low tolerance for marketing emails. In order to get a more positive response, you need to make your email marketing a little more targeted, and even a little more personal (if you can).
Getting a good response is no longer about having a massive email list. It is about engaging the recipient enough to get them to open the message in the first place, and then for making sure they do not delete/block your email within a few seconds of opening it. Here are some great tips for helping you to do just that.
1 - If you’re not 100% sure of their name then don’t use it
Do not forget that people use fake names to open up accounts. If you cannot be sure that the recipient has not used a fake name, then do not include any name within the message. People may forget that they have had used fake names and will simply block your email for fear that it might be a poorly optimized spam.
If the recipient had earlier made a purchase with you using a credit or debit card, then there is a chance that the name on the card is that of the person you are sending an email to (unless they used another person’s card). In this case, you should risk using their name on the email. Try opening with a salutation followed by the recipient’s last name. Some individuals might not too comfortable seeing you use their first names; especially so if they are not used to receiving messages from you.
If you can show and display an item that the recipient had bought from you before, it will add to your credibly. It is even more powerful if the email is optimized around the recipient’s previous purchases. Using lines such as, “if you liked that then you will love this” can work really well in such situations.
2 - Get to the point within the subject line
Your subject lines should be attention grabbing if your emails have to make any impact. People need a hook in order to make them look, but they also need to know what to expect. People have better things to do that trawl through a bunch of unknown messages. If you do not give them a clue as to what they will find inside, then people will not even look.
3 - Link to your website and your offer’s landing page
Email marketing Pundits might tell you that the only links you should be including are links to your landing pages. However, such a theory is not always correct. Your recepients may be interested in your offer, but they may also be interested in knowing more about you and what more you’ve got to offer. Therefore its always a good idea to include links to your home page as well.
4 - Keep the page lightweight so that it loads quicker
Your page should be no more than a few megabytes heavy. Any more and your messages will take a long time to load; unless the recipient is on a 3/4G internet connection. Most people today are not willing to wait that long and unless your emails are optimized to load fast, you might lose out on potential customers.
5 - Start with your hook/point and make it big
Making your point – loud and clear – in the opening few lines of your messages can go a long way in eliciting the desired response from your email marketing campaigns. Making people search around for information is never a good idea. Make your point, make it attention grabbing, and then use the rest of the message to sell your point/hook to the recipient. A soft introduction is a very bad idea for an email message.
6 - Target your list for age and gender demographics
If you have the recipient’s age or gender data, then you should use such data to optimize and personalize your messages. A message which is optimised for the recipient’s age and gender generally gets far more responses than generalized messages.
7 - Keep up to date with spam triggers
It is important to avoid using certain words in your email’s subject line which might trigger the spam filters into action and cause your emails to land in your recipient’s SPAM folder. In order to keep up with changing spammer tactics, you need to keep yourself up to date with the most recent spam triggers. Some of the most common ones include excessive use of capital letters or excessive punctuation (i.e. using an exclamation point more than once, e.g. “!!!!!”).
Here is a great resource on spam trigger words.
8 - Keep your message very concise and to the point
You need to assume that your email is going to be skim read. Your large formatted title/hook is the thing that keeps them from instantly deleting your message. The rest of the content should be optimized as if it is written for a person with a very short attention span. The best way of doing this is to keep your message as short and concise as possible.
9 - Bright colors are okay if they are used carefully
A large bright and bold colored headline is acceptable as long as the rest of the message is fairly conservative. However, excessive decor and too many bright and bold colors might just put-off your potential customers.
10 - Do not use fraudster talk
The term fraudster talk is an invention of this article, and it stands for all the things that fraudsters/con-artists send in their emails. Terms such as “Save money”, “urgent” and “free” should not be used on your email without an extremely good reason.
It is also a very good idea to include unsubscription options with your emails.
I hope these email marketing best practices will help you get the desired response from your email marketing efforts. Thanks for reading and good luck.
Author bio: Korah Morrison, writer on College-Paper.org that helps students achieve their academic goals. Get 20% discount with –techblog20- promo code. With inputs from Sandipan.
1 - If you’re not 100% sure of their name then don’t use it
Do not forget that people use fake names to open up accounts. If you cannot be sure that the recipient has not used a fake name, then do not include any name within the message. People may forget that they have had used fake names and will simply block your email for fear that it might be a poorly optimized spam.
If the recipient had earlier made a purchase with you using a credit or debit card, then there is a chance that the name on the card is that of the person you are sending an email to (unless they used another person’s card). In this case, you should risk using their name on the email. Try opening with a salutation followed by the recipient’s last name. Some individuals might not too comfortable seeing you use their first names; especially so if they are not used to receiving messages from you.
If you can show and display an item that the recipient had bought from you before, it will add to your credibly. It is even more powerful if the email is optimized around the recipient’s previous purchases. Using lines such as, “if you liked that then you will love this” can work really well in such situations.
2 - Get to the point within the subject line
Your subject lines should be attention grabbing if your emails have to make any impact. People need a hook in order to make them look, but they also need to know what to expect. People have better things to do that trawl through a bunch of unknown messages. If you do not give them a clue as to what they will find inside, then people will not even look.
3 - Link to your website and your offer’s landing page
Email marketing Pundits might tell you that the only links you should be including are links to your landing pages. However, such a theory is not always correct. Your recepients may be interested in your offer, but they may also be interested in knowing more about you and what more you’ve got to offer. Therefore its always a good idea to include links to your home page as well.
4 - Keep the page lightweight so that it loads quicker
Your page should be no more than a few megabytes heavy. Any more and your messages will take a long time to load; unless the recipient is on a 3/4G internet connection. Most people today are not willing to wait that long and unless your emails are optimized to load fast, you might lose out on potential customers.
5 - Start with your hook/point and make it big
Making your point – loud and clear – in the opening few lines of your messages can go a long way in eliciting the desired response from your email marketing campaigns. Making people search around for information is never a good idea. Make your point, make it attention grabbing, and then use the rest of the message to sell your point/hook to the recipient. A soft introduction is a very bad idea for an email message.
6 - Target your list for age and gender demographics
If you have the recipient’s age or gender data, then you should use such data to optimize and personalize your messages. A message which is optimised for the recipient’s age and gender generally gets far more responses than generalized messages.
7 - Keep up to date with spam triggers
It is important to avoid using certain words in your email’s subject line which might trigger the spam filters into action and cause your emails to land in your recipient’s SPAM folder. In order to keep up with changing spammer tactics, you need to keep yourself up to date with the most recent spam triggers. Some of the most common ones include excessive use of capital letters or excessive punctuation (i.e. using an exclamation point more than once, e.g. “!!!!!”).
Here is a great resource on spam trigger words.
8 - Keep your message very concise and to the point
You need to assume that your email is going to be skim read. Your large formatted title/hook is the thing that keeps them from instantly deleting your message. The rest of the content should be optimized as if it is written for a person with a very short attention span. The best way of doing this is to keep your message as short and concise as possible.
9 - Bright colors are okay if they are used carefully
A large bright and bold colored headline is acceptable as long as the rest of the message is fairly conservative. However, excessive decor and too many bright and bold colors might just put-off your potential customers.
10 - Do not use fraudster talk
The term fraudster talk is an invention of this article, and it stands for all the things that fraudsters/con-artists send in their emails. Terms such as “Save money”, “urgent” and “free” should not be used on your email without an extremely good reason.
It is also a very good idea to include unsubscription options with your emails.
I hope these email marketing best practices will help you get the desired response from your email marketing efforts. Thanks for reading and good luck.
Author bio: Korah Morrison, writer on College-Paper.org that helps students achieve their academic goals. Get 20% discount with –techblog20- promo code. With inputs from Sandipan.
