Nine Quick Tips to Sharp E-mail Marketing
1. Don't Forget Your Daily Helping of SPAM.
We're not talking about the wartime kitchen cabinet staple here. Rather, we are indeed recommending that you take a look-see at your daily supply of spam. Study the unwanted e-mails you receive, and construct a list of 20 observations you notice that the messages all have in common. Doing this can help you steer clear of characteristics in your marketing e-mails that can come of as, umm, trashy.
2. One Good Address Deserves Another.
A smart technique to maintaining and even building your base of subscribers is to allow them to change their subscription e-mail, or even add a new one. Include a link to this near your unsubscribe button.
3. Dear Valued No-Name.
Never send a marketing e-mail that does not include the personal name of that e-mail's recipient. Think about this for yourself: are you more likely to peruse a message that feels specifically addressed to you, or to Mr. or Mrs. #15738 on some unseen subscriber registry?
4. We're on the Same Page, No Matter the Format.
One way to not only steer your e-mails away from "spam" status, but also to boost attractiveness to readers, is to ensure that the content of your e-mail is consistently the same, be it basic plain text, or image-full HTML.
5. The Bonus Gets the Boost.
Lure readers to subscribe to your website's Facebook page, Twitter account, newsletter, or blog posting by offering them custom and attractive rewards for doing so. Maybe 10% off their next purchase, or access to exclusive content, will translate into added connectivity -- exactly what you're looking for in your e-mail marketing, correct?
6. Off With Our Mail, and Off With it Now.
Eager to encourage your email subscribers to associate your messages trustworthiness and reliability? Ensure that when they want to unsubscribe, they can do so cleanly, immediately, and discreetly. Few bigger online pains exist than a message from a webpage that you thought you got away from months ago.
7. Readers Will Rig it For You -- For the Better.
The customer is always right, and it can be hugely valuable for your e-mail marketing scheme to incorporate feedback from the readers themselves. Coax your subscribers to message you with feedback on your messages. Include selected hyperlinks in your e-mails, so that readers can go there with little fanfare. And place such links next to images -- what readers like to look at, they will click on; and what they click on can help you see what's generating the most attention.
8. Let the Story Sell it Better.
A sign of a truly intelligent e-mail marketing platform is the inclusion of narrative into the messages. Discover (or thoughtfully concoct) an alluring story about your website to thread through not one but multiple e-mails. Allowing readers to track a story about what you over via multiple snippets of storytelling can mean a more interactive, intrigued (and hooked) base of subscribers.
9. Don't Stop Believing.
We all recognize how crucial being consistent and persistent can be in generating Web success. Be sure that every e-mail message sent out is of a regularly high level of quality, and sent out in well-paced intervals. The line between spam and well-regarded Web spectacle is fine; fine-tuning your messages' pluck and excellence can make sure you're on the right side of that line.