Tips for Effective Email Marketing

Best Practices are a Great Start for an Effective Email Marketing Campaign

Today most consumers receive dozens of email marketing messages very day. Inbox clutter due to a high volume of emails makes it difficult for any of us to weed through to find something relevant to our needs.

So when you are using email marketing as a method to entice readers into your marketing funnel, the challenge becomes how to get your message to stand out to the people on your list. You need to craft your email messages in a way to get your audience to choose your email instead of all the others in queue and your design & message must be considered worth their time. But your email message can only be effective if it is opened. Implementing best practices to make sure your email isn’t considered SPAM or JUNK mail is a great way to build your email marketing campaigns.

So the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign starts with these basic tips.

Pay Attention to Subject Fields with Email Marketing

Your subject line should be written in a way to attract the reader and entice them to open the email. Email marketing best practices encourages using short subject lines that are about 50 characters in length to create interest. The use of ALL CAPS in subject lines is discouraged because it triggers most spam filters which would result in your email ending up in the junk mail folder. The words “Help”, “Reminder”, and “Free” are usually considered spam words too so use them carefully if you decide to include them in your email.

There are some email marketers who’ve rejected these best practices. But consider using methods known to work and avoid those that don’t work most of the time. The bottom line is to write subject lines to create excitement and interest because the initial hurdle is for your readers to open that email to see your offer.

Keep Your Email Short

Generally, people do not mind your taking a few seconds or a couple of minutes of their time to provide them with a message as long as it is relevant and of value to them. So,

KISS – Keep It Short and Simple. People are busy. You need to communicate your message in a way that is short and to the point. If your readers have to work too hard to understand what you are trying to say; they will probably give up, delete your email and move on to the next one. And the likelihood of their opening another email message from you diminishes if they think your emails are just a waste of their time

The Power of One – Focus

Your email message should be focused on one product, service or topic. Describe it clearly, tell what it is, describe the benefits or features and why it would be of value to your reader. Make it easy for them to learn more about the offer.

Avoid the temptation of packing your email messages with too many topics or too many offers. Giving too many options can have negative effects. Some people can’t decide or they even become confused about what their best choice will be. This results in delay (to think more about the choices given) or indecision and inability to choose.

Using Images in Your Email

Although images and graphics are visually appealing but they are not effective for email marketing. If you think it’s important to use an image, it’s best to use a small image. Most of your message should be text content and here’s why.

Many email providers and clients default to “images off” so if you send only images or a large image in your email to communicate your offering, your audience may never see your message. And most mobile users will not be able to view your image on their device. If you send this type of message to your list more than once you risk losing your audience to “unsubscribe”. By using mostly or all text content, your message can be viewed once your reader opens it.

So use that large image or INFOGRAPHIC you are fond of on your Pinterest account where it belongs.

Spelling and Grammar Errors

Misspelled words and poor grammar does not build much credibility for you or your brand. Chances are your reader will not finish reviewing the message if it contains incorrect spelling or grammar gremlins. A message that has spelling and/or grammar errors sends the message that you are just too busy or can’t be bothered to check it for accuracy. Your readers will likely click the delete button without considering the great offer you are making to them.

Call to Action

Your call to action should be clear, easy to find and focused on your defined objective. To be effective, it should entice people to click on the offer to find out more about it. Some businesses have experienced improved conversion by using small graphic boxes to draw their readers’ attention to their offer; for example, a button “Click here for Trial” or “Click here to Join”. Of course, make sure these images work well with the overall content, layout and design of the email and remember to use text content for most of your message.

Know the Rules for Email Marketing

Commercial email must comply with the Can-Spam Act or you face some pretty tough penalties. Email marketing services require profile information when you set up your account to help you with some of the compliance rules. You can learn more about the Can-Spam Act for email marketing by clicking here.

Use these email marketing tips as you are crafting your messages. Effective email marketing starts with implementing best practices. You should segment your lists to make sure you are sending relevant messages to those on your list. Then analyze your click-through results and implement split testing to find which messages are bringing you the best results.

Here’s to your success!

No time to perform email marketing tasks yourself? Why not let a VA handle your email marketing for you to keep your campaign on track.