Email Marketing is a great tool to use as part of your internet marketing program. Unfortunately, these days most people are inundated with messages in their inbox.
The trick to making an Email Marketing message effective is to make it stand out from the rest so that it gets opened by the recipient – and avoid having it end up in the spam folder. But even if it does get opened, you have to take special steps to encourage the reader to click on the links to your site.
Making sure your email marketing efforts are not wasted is merely a matter of paying attention to the details before you press the send button. Browse through these tips for creating messages that are an effective marketing tool.
Email Message Content
The first order of business is deciding what the email should say. An obvious and overt sales pitch is not going to do the job. Who wants to be inundated with “commercials” all day long?
Understand that it may take several messages to each recipient before they feel compelled to click on your call to action. One of the best ways to encourage reading of each message is by telling a story that is drawn out over several emails.
One way to do this is by relating a story of how a particular client was helped by your company’s products or services. Before you get started, get permission to email whenever possible. You can do this by offering a customer newsletter, tips, or a freebie.
A good way to communicate via email is through a series of messages. You can start with a customer testimonial you’ve received, then contact that client to ask permission to do an interview. You might turn the interview into a three-part email series that shows recipients the timeline from when this client first contacted to the present day, when he or she is now enjoying the benefits of doing business with you.
Another benefit of a story series is that it will establish your IP address as being a stable, and regular sender. Don’t mail all installments in one day, space them out over a period of days or even weeks. Consider adding a preview to the bottom of each message of the following one, so it can build suspense or at least expectation of a future message.
Think about the best way to word your message. For B2B communications, the word “advice” is a good one to include. When you are trying to reach consumers, use words like “new”, “cutting edge”, or “sleek” to appeal to their desires.
Email Design Elements
Next, think carefully about how your Email Marketing message is designed. Spam filters tend to look for such things as graphics, logos, Flash animation images, and a large number of links.
Initially, you will want to make sure that you request the email recipient to add your address to their list of safe senders when they opt-in to your database. This tends to help your message get over the first hurdle to their inbox. You should also give them an option to receive your emails in plain text or HTML format.
The majority of the content in the message should be plain text. Of course, you will want to include a link to the call to action towards the end of the message, but don’t add links to the rest of the content. Spam filters vary, but most tend to block your message when there are three or more links included.
Images look nice but should be limited to your logo and perhaps a button that is linked to a landing page on your website.
It’s a good idea to test your email message by sending it to a friend before you mail it out to your entire database. If it goes through both the ISP and filters on your friend’s computer, chances are it will reach the rest of your list, too.
Email messages are an inexpensive easy form of online marketing, but they are only effective if they don’t end up in the spam folder and then induce someone to take action. Carefully craft useful and helpful messages so that you can build trust with your customers and prospects and your Email Marketing can definitely pay off.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.AussieSEO.com 2010
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