Get it right and Business Email broadcasting is possibly on of the most successful method of engaging existing and new customers.
Why? Simple! You are communicating with them exactly where they visit each day -- their inbox.
Create Your Email Campaign
Winning email marketing campaigns begin with great design. Some of the main steps to consider are:
- Create and segment your contact list.
Always select an opt in email approved data list that complies with anti-spam conventions and a list that is relevant and targeted to your message. You may want to segment by, geography, sex, product type, age, time etc - Develop your message content.
Who exactly is your audience? If global what language must it be written in? Write your headline based on the AIDA principle. Think precisely how the message flows from title to the actual message content, and call to action to ensure you get a click-through. - Consider the online experience.
The whole reason for the email campaign is to translate your prospective audience into customers. Therefore the landing website must follow the same design scheme as the email to ensure customers make the connection.
It is essential the online message and content is as considered as the original message email to guarantee the visitor continues with the flow and purchase or complete whichever call to action you require. - Setting up your metrics.
Ensure that your email system records bounces (failed deliveries), email opens and click-through.
But campaign creation is just the start...
Let's Make Sure The Email Is Delivered
It's all very well getting the design and content of the email correct but that will all be in vain if your prospect doesn't receive your email.
- Bounces.
People are prone to change Email addresses regularly without notice. To help tackle this insist on double opt-in by asking visitors to opt in online as they proceed through your system and then again when you send an email with an email opt-in confirmation link. - Spam Filters.
Most emails must get past two spam filters; the customer's server spam filter and their individual computers. It's vital that you Test your email messages against popular server filters to ensure they get through. In addition, provide instructions during the opt-in process to specify that your email address is allowed. - Image Blockers.
Some email servers block all images from being displayed in email, to reduce pornographic materials. Make sure that your message still makes sense even without the images.
Test Your Email
The fantastic thing about email marketing is that you can always tell when it works, because you can test it. Test every email campaign before you send:
- User experience.
Test for correctly formatted links in several email programs and that the landing pages are correct. Then test that the experience continues from the landing page through to conversion. - You have a delivery.
Send the test email to numerous email systems to check that the message is not blocked as spam. - Best response?
Create a few versions of your test email and send them to a small number of your data contacts before the mass email, so that you can evaluate which one gets the best response rate.
How you tried your hand at email marketing? What tip did I miss?
I am just wondering if you have a preferred email service that you could suggest and do you have any tips that can help in actually getting your email opened when it gets to the inbox, such as using your persoanl name or company name in the ‘from’ section.
HI Patrick,
As a http://www.constantcontact.com solution provider I would start here.
tips….
Tip #1: Use personalization for added attention
Sending out an e-mail with a personalized subject line is the equivalent of calling someone’s name in a crowd: It has that same power to grab his attention.
By now, using the recipient’s name in your subject line is pretty standard. But that’s only the start. You can take personalization further by adding another personal detail to the subject line, like the city your customers live in.
Start with a subject line that looks like this: “Janet, want to get out of the city this weekend?”
Then make it really compelling by adding personal details: “Janet, want to get out of Tucson this weekend?”
A DoubleClick survey found that the most important factor in generating a response was offering a product the recipients wanted at the time. You can accomplish that by segmenting your market, allowing you to personalize the offers or the information in your e-mails to make them timely and relevant.
That means collecting as much data as possible on each person on your mailing list. Then you can create separate campaigns that will appeal to each segment of your audience (e.g., subscribers; people who have purchased once; and people who have purchased more than once).
If your offer is highly personalized, your subject lines can be, too.
Tip #2: Keep your subject lines short
Here’s a test: Take a look at the subject lines in your inbox. Are there any that stand out more than others? Any that you read first or get you interested in learning more? Chances are it’s the shorter subject lines that grab you, right?
It’s actually been proven that subject lines with 41 characters or under get higher opening and click-through rates than longer ones. So keep it short and sweet. You don’t need to explain in detail what the e-mail is about in the subject line; you just need to give enough information to make people want to open the e-mail to read more. E-mails alerting recipients to a regular subscription product or downloadable information can be longer–test and see what works.
Make sure you put your benefit, offer or most important element in the first few words of the subject line, too. That way, if someone’s e-mail program cuts off the end of the subject line (which is pretty common) you’ll still get your main point across.
Tip #3: Keep the formatting simple and understated
If you sent an e-mail to a friend, would you type your subject line like this?
“Free Beer And Pizza — You’re Invited!!”
Or how about like this?
“FREE BEER AND PIZZA — YOU’RE INVITED!!”
It’s pretty unlikely, right? So why would your e-mails to your customers and subscribers have subject lines that were formatted like that?
The more your subject lines look like personal e-mails from friends, family members or business associates, the more likely it is that they’ll be opened. The more they look like a hard-sell sales pitch, the less effective they’ll be.
So avoid capitalization, exclamation marks and dollar signs, which can increase the chances of having your messages flagged as spam, and will be sure to set off warning bells with your recipients.
Tip #4: Use a compelling angle to get your readers interested
Of course, getting your readers to open your e-mails requires more than personalization and formatting. You’ll still need to come up with an interesting angle that grabs your customers’ attention and makes them want to open the e-mail.
Here are some ideas for subject lines that we’ve had success with in the past:
• Make an announcement or share news: People want to be the first to find out new things, especially if your site covers a specific industry.
• Make your reader curious: Suggest that the reader is missing out on an important offer or piece of information. When you use this technique, make sure you leave something to the imagination. For example: “Paul, are you making this common mistake?”
• Create a sense of urgency: Consider creating a sense of urgency in your subject line by limiting time (“Frank, only three days left”) or quantity (“Mary, only 250 copies available”).
• Emphasize benefits: Another powerful approach for your subject line is to state how your readers will benefit from your e-mail. If you can tell them how they’re going to save money, save time, make their lives easier, etc., by opening and reading your message, you’ll have the most success.
Tip #5: Make sure your subject line relates to the content of the e-mail
Nobody likes to be fooled or tricked, so make sure your subject line is related to your actual message–in fact, it’s a legal requirement under the CAN-SPAM Act that the subject line be authentic and not misleading.
If your subject line says “Mary, three ways to save money,” you need to make sure you actually are talking about that, and preferably within the first few lines. Otherwise, your visitors will feel cheated, and that will hurt your credibility.
And don’t forget about the preview pane. Statistics from MarketingSherpa show that 26.6 percent of consumers read e-mails that way. And 69 percent of people reading e-mail at work do so with the preview pane turned on. You risk losing those readers if you don’t follow up your subject line almost immediately in the body of the e-mail.
It’s time worth spending to come up with subject lines that will entice people to open your e-mails. Those five or six words are vital to your business because they connect you with your most valuable potential customers. So never stop testing them and trying new ones
Hope this helps
Mark
Hi Mark,
I have been thinking of subscribing to Aweber for quite some time now for the purpose of building up an email list for my blog.
I was just wondering if using the free services like mailchimp would be good enough till the time my blog starts recovering the various expenses I incur on it?
Having doubts because I firmly believe that one gets what he pays for, and am not sure enough whether mailchimp would actually be good. All the same, I am not in a position to spend another $21 every month! 🙁
In a dilemma- can you guide me through this?
Hi,
Well firstly, I’m a http://www.constantcontact.com solution provider so would advise using them. You can use service free for 60 days to see if it is appropriate. If you want I can help with this.
You are correct you get what you pay for!! This service starts from as low as $7 and scales depending on the number of email addresses you wish to broadcast to.
So this would provide a scalable solution as you monetise your blog etc
Hope that helps
Best wishes
Mark
Hello Mark,
I have been thinking of subscribing to Aweber for quite some time now for the purpose of building up an email list for my blog.
HI Rajendra,
I am not familiar with Aweber, although I had a quick look and it should perform perfectly for your use.
We are Constant Contact Service Provider http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp?pn=seocrowd
If I can help let me know
Good Luck
Mark