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10 Tips on Email Marketing

Guest post by: William Gissen

Article Overview: After attending an email marketing conference sponsored by Constant Contact, I was introduced to several valuable rules and amazing online resources. This article describes some of them.

10 Tips on Email Marketing

After attending an email marketing conference sponsored by Constant Contact, I was introduced to several valuable rules and amazing online resources. They include:

1. The ability to match any color on the web by using Color Cop.

This program lets you drag an "eye dropper" over any colored background, and it will automatically give you the index color (hexadecimal or RGB) to exactly reproduce that color. For branding purposes, it is generally a good idea to match the colors on your web site in an email newsletter, and this program lets you do so efficiently. For anyone who has tried to do this manually, the program is amazing.

2. Limit your subject line to 35-47 characters because most email browsers will cut it off after that.

People are extremely busy and quick to delete anything remotely resembling spam. You want your entire subject line to be read prior to any evaluation, and this limit, the equivalent of five-to-seven words will help you do so.

3. Don't use more than two-to-three colors for your newsletter. More than that creates a confusing, or even comical, image.

It’s tempting to take advantage of the many color options in email marketing programs, but sometimes “less is more.”

4. Keep your newsletter 80 percent informative and 20 percent promotional.

Again, this rule tries to address the flood of spam over the Internet, but it is also important to build the reputation of your e-newsletter to ensure continued readership in the future.

5. Include a call-to-action with clear instructions, e.g., "Please phone [number] to receive a free evaluation ..."

Surprisingly, your results with simple direct instructions such as the one above are significantly better than just providing your phone number or just offering the evaluation.

6. Use "Yoda speak" (for you Star Wars fans) in the subject line because the first two words are the most important.

Again, addressing the prevalence of spam. You have a limited window to capture the attention of email recipients in their split-second decision whether to click or not to click.

7. If possible, repeat the "from" name in the subject line because it is the most important factor in determining whether the recipient will open your email.

If recipients know you, they are more likely to open your email. Period. This simple fact provides compelling reinforcement to avoid buying email lists or sending out blind email blasts.

8. Use "anchor" links for internal newsletter navigation (e.g., back to top).

Internal links are a nice touch to help prospects move around your e-newsletter and avoid unnecessary scrolling.

9. Use trial sends to test how your newsletter appears in gmail, hotmail and aol browsers.

This technique is not widely used, but different browsers may receive your email newsletter in different way, and you want to ensure a favorable viewing experience for all.

10. Include join-my-mailing-list (JMML) opportunities in your email signature, LinkedIn account, Facebook, blog(s), Twitter, Delicious, etc.

I find a JMML link in your email signature is the most effective, and you can do this simply by creating an html file and adding it to the appropriate section under Internet options.

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Article Tags: Constant Contact, email marketing



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