We have been involved in email marketing since 2001 when we sent out our first campaign. We have written many articles on email marketing since we began, below are 13 articles which should give you a jolly good idea of what to think about when contemplating using email marketing. Enjoy the read and please add your comments at the end so others who visit this page can be even more enlightened.
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The email marketing topics covered below include:
How to Write an Email Newsletter
Here are some quick ideas to help get you started – ideal for those moments when the dreaded ‘writers block’ strikes.
1. Case Studies
Focus on a particular problem you solved for a customer and use the example as a lead-in to offering some general advice on the subject. For example, if you’re a car mechanic you might talk about a customer’s car which had a recurring fault and you managed to diagnose and fix it where others had failed. These stories help position you as an expert in your readers' minds - more effectively than you just telling them so.
2. Study industry publications
Magazines and newspapers relating to your industry can be great source of raw material to write about. What are the latest trends in your field? What sort of challenges are your competitors facing right now? What’s coming up in the future for your industry?
3. FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Think of some of the questions you get asked frequently by your clients. You could address these individually in a short article in each newsletter you publish. If you’re really stuck for ‘question’ ideas, make that the subject of your next newsletter: ask your customers to email you their questions which you’ll then answer in the next issue.
4. ‘Top 10 tips’
In general, people will be drawn towards reading quick tips as they tend to be short, sharp snippets of information that can be quickly digested. Not only that, it’s usually much easier to create a list of tips than to put together a real article (although the tips can easily evolve into an article). Usually it makes sense to offer your best tip first, or at least close to the top, in order to grab the reader’s interest and encourage them to read on.
5. Interviews
Why not interview one of your associates and publish the results? You don’t even need to conduct an actual interview – just email them several questions and await their response. You may need to edit the results – and don’t forget to offer them a short ‘plug’ in your newsletter so they get a chance to promote their business in return.
6. Recommend books or websites
Your customers might be interested to know what resources you refer to in the course of your work. Whether it’s a book, a magazine, or a website you could even write a full review if you wish.
7. Ask readers to send in profiles
Depending on the type of business you’re in, this can be a good way to encourage some reciprocal business to change hands. For example, if you’re a graphic designer you might publish a profile about the copywriter or web designer you use.
8. Current / seasonal issues
Think about the current issues your clients will be facing right now. Obviously this will depend on your line of business but for example, an accountant may want to offer tips of preparing end of year accounts when appropriate, a roofer might suggest a roof check just as autumn kicks in, a car mechanic might suggest a pre-winter service etc.
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Effective email marketing can reap amazing results for your business. How else could you communicate with so many potential customers from your target audience in one single operation? How else could you send out vital information in minutes? As always, there are some basic rules to follow in order to maximize the success of your email newsletters. Here’s our Top 10…
1. Surprisingly, this is something that’s too often overlooked: always display your contact details in a prominent position – including links to your website of course.
2. Address your email recipients by name. This creates a friendly, personal touch which helps add a feeling of exclusivity and individuality. Consider using first names in the body of the email itself if you can.
3. Keep it concise. Make your email too long and people will be put off reading it. Try using short, sharp paragraphs of text linking back to a longer version of the story on your website.
4. Offer alternative versions of your email. At the very least, offer a text only version as well as HTML. Some people choose not to receive HTML emails, so by offering the text-only version you still allow them the chance to read your newsletter.
5. Remember your newsletter can be used as a market research tool: you have access to an ideal market who have opted to receive information about your products, services, and offers. If you ask recipients to complete a questionnaire, always offer some kind of incentive and explain why you are carrying out the market research.
6. Include a powerful headline which arouses the reader’s interest. The subject line of your email newsletter should reflect the content otherwise you may risk ending up on the list of 'blocked senders' for misleading the reader.
7. Always include an unsubscribe link. This is usually placed at the very bottom of the page and is required by law.
8. Avoid sending email newsletters on Monday or Friday. Research indicates that people are far less receptive to email communications at the beginning or end of the week. On Monday they tend to be in ‘delete’ mood as they clear the weekend backlog. On Friday they tend to be in ‘wind down’ mode for the weekend. Aim for midweek for maximum results.
9. Ensure links open up a new window. If you include links in the body of your email, make sure the target is set to ‘_blank’. If not, clicking on the link will close down your email and open up the linked page instead.
10. Don’t overdo it! Bombarding your readership with frequent emails can be intrusive and will result in deletion or unsubscription. Ask your readers how often they want to hear from you: weekly, fortnightly, or monthly?
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Email Marketing – How to Grab Attention
What’s the best way to increase the chances of your email newsletters being read? By attracting the reader’s attention with a catchy and enticing subject line. It’s pointless sending out emails to your subscribers if they don’t open them – so if you want to increase response rates and generate more business, it’s important to get the subject line right.
Although often added as an afterthought, the subject line could be the most important part of any email because if it doesn’t do the job of encouraging recipients to read on, your response rates will be poor – no matter how good the content of your communication may be. So how can you write an irresistible subject line for your next email?
There are several key types of subject lines, each of which is aimed at provoking a specific emotion and reaction. Certain combinations of words and phrases have been proven to get the best results. Here’s a brief overview:
1. Fear of failure. A subject line which invites the reader to continue reading to find out how to avoid failure or negative results is one of the most powerful ways to increase your ‘open’ rates. For example, “The Biggest Email Marketing Mistake”.
2. Desirability factor. A subject line which inspires the reader to find out how to achieve a specific result works well if you are selling a product that explains how to achieve a particular goal. For example, “How to Write Email Newsletter Copy”.
3. Curiosity factor. A subject line which motivates people to read on out of sheer curiosity. For example “The Best Way to Drive Business to Your Website”.
4. Quick results. A subject line that promises fast results tends to be hard to resist. For example, “The Quickest Way to Build a Subscriber Database”.
Next time you send an email newsletter to your database, try applying one of these rules. It’s highly likely your ‘open’ rates will increase as a result. The more recipients open your message, the more chance there is for you to increase sales.
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Email Marketing Without Spamming
With unsolicited junk email (‘spam’) accounting for 10% of all internet traffic it’s no surprise internet users are getting fed up with it. According to one recent poll, 42% of those who receive spam email said they wished it would stop. The question for email marketers is this: how can you reach your target audience by email without being accused of spamming?
Industry experts at EmailResults.com recently compiled a list of tips to help internet marketers gear their email marketing campaigns for success:
1. Create your own email lists.
Building a database of qualified leads and existing customers helps to ensure your campaigns hit the right target audience. Email addresses can be collected via your website (for example, by offering a free download or ebook from your site), at trade shows and exhibitions, or by networking. Make sure everyone in your list is aware they will receive email marketing communications from you.
2. Create sub-lists.
Your customers may fall into distinct categories. Some may be interested in green widgets whilst others prefer red. By arranging your database into sub-lists, you can fine-tune your campaigns to appeal to a particular target audience. You might set up an ‘announcements’ list to keep your contacts updated with your company news, new product releases, special promotions, or announcements of personnel changes.
3. Publish a free email newsletter.
Publishing a regular email newsletter is a proven way to keep your company's name in front of your target market. It should offer real value to the reader: industry news items, ‘how-to’ articles, tips and advice, and commentary about trends in your industry. This type of communication also helps position you and your company as expert in your field, enhancing your reputation.
4. Advertise on email discussion lists.
A little online research should turn up numerous email newsletters and interactive discussion lists aimed at your target audience, many of which will accept advertising or sponsorships.
The golden rule is never send an email to anyone who hasn’t given their express permission to be added to your list.
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Outlook 2007 HTML Rendering Tips
There have been some concerns recently about HTML rendering incorrectly in Outlook 2007 owing to changes in functionality. Many email marketers have discovered their HTML newsletters are not rendering accurately on customers’ computers running Outlook 2007. Why is this happening, and what can be done to eliminate the problems?
Let’s begin by defining exactly why these rendering issues have arisen in the first place. Previous versions of Outlook used Internet Explorer for reading content and Microsoft Word for editing and composing.
Microsoft recognized that many customers wanted the editing facilities of Word incorporated into Outlook which is why they opted to use their HTML rendering engine for both reading and composing in Outlook 2007, the plan being to allow unification of the rendering and editing engines.
There are however, some issues which should be considered when using Outlook 2007 to put your email newsletters together. Here is a list of suggestions to help ensure your email newsletter recipients will receive an HTML newsletter which looks exactly how you intended:
• Background images – avoid background images in table cells, using gifs instead
• Background colours – If a table cell has background colour, avoid nesting another table inside that table
• Padding and margins – these may behave differently, so check the appearance before sending
• Embedded e-mail surveys – Include links in your email to surveys on a website
• Animated GIF files – Animated gifs will appear but will not animate
• Flash animations – these will just appear as a big red “X”. Instead, send readers to a site to see these images
• Images/photos - can definitely be used, be sure to include captions in case images are blocked
• CSS – Be sure to update your CSS templates to reflect the changes above
As always, sound advice is to test and double-check the appearance of your messages before sending them.
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A recent review by email marketing firm Silverpop revealed that many email marketing campaigns are let down by poorly designed landing pages. If the landing page doesn’t grab the reader’s attention they will click away – which is what 50% of recipients appear to be doing.
The study looked at 150 email marketing campaign landing pages, finding that many were confusing and cluttered, resulting in 50% of readers clicking away after just 8 seconds.
The report indicates that email marketers have just a few seconds to entice the reader. One key factor is the look and feel of the landing page. It should fit comfortably with the tone and design of the email newsletter itself; if it doesn’t, visitors can get confused and abandon the site. The Silverpop report found that 35% of the campaigns studied included landing pages which looked nothing like the email that generated the click-through. It’s an important point that seems to be often overlooked.
The promotional copy on the email should be powerful and compelling – enough to entice the reader to continue. However, over 50% of the campaigns studied did not feature strong copy on the landing page. For a message to have maximum impact, it needs to be consistent throughout: from email to landing page. Best practice suggests repeating the offer on the landing page, reiterating the call to action that prompted the reader to click through from the email.
Finally, 17% of the surveyed campaigns took visitors directly to the website’s homepage rather than a specific landing page relating to the email contents. This creates a feeling of disappointment as the reader is directed to a page which simply fails to deliver on the promise implied by the email newsletter copy.
Why you should do business with LiaiseOnline and please, share it with your colleagues. Then call us on 01753 852904.
The Best Time to Send an Email Newsletter
Does it matter which day of the week you send out your email marketing campaigns? Does your email stand a better chance of being opened on certain days of the week whereas it might be ignored on others? And what’s the best way of finding out?
When sending out an email marketing campaign, it’s worth considering that some days of the week seem to attract better response rates than others. Although it does vary from one type of business to another, there are some general rules to be followed. If you want a high click-through rate for your email, which days should you avoid?
Although there will always be exceptions, most agree that Monday is one of the worst days to send out an email newsletter. There are a number of reasons. Firstly, it tends to be a day when most email inboxes have filled up over the weekend. Faced with an overcrowded inbox first thing on a Monday morning, most people will be keen to hit that delete key for anything that’s not absolutely crucial – sadly, this often means your email newsletter won’t even get opened. Statistics indicate that Monday has the lowest open and click-through rate of any weekday, suggesting that people simply aren’t in email marketing campaign mode on a Monday.
So what days show the best performance? Thursday is the most popular day for sending email campaigns (almost a quarter of email campaigns are sent of a Thursday). The theory is that people are starting to wind down in readiness for the weekend, putting them in a more responsive mood. They may also be thinking ahead to their weekend activities and planning what they might need to buy.
Friday is generally thought of as a bad day to send email because many people take Fridays off and therefore may not see the email until Monday morning. That said, many firms send newsletters on a Friday based on the assumption people will be more likely to open it over the weekend. Again, it depends on the nature of your business.
Statistically, email campaigns sent on Wednesdays scores the highest open rates and click-through rates. There’s no clear reason for this result although some claim people have more time on a Wednesday, having settled into the working week and recovered from the weekend. Fewer people take Wednesday off work so it seems more likely the email will hit its target on Wednesday than any other day.
The only way to determine what works best for your email marketing campaigns is to test. Try sending them on different days of the week and track the results. Even the time of day could have an impact on the response rates and results may differ depending on whether your campaign is B2B of B2C.
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Three Elements of Email Marketing
There are 3 key elements that lie behind any successful email marketing campaign. They are the same elements which apply just as effectively to traditional direct mail marketing so should be familiar to most entrepreneurial marketers.
As with offline marketing, there are 3 key elements which need to come together in order to create an effective email marketing message. These are: Offer, List, and Creative. Let’s take a look at these three in more detail.
The Offer
Essentially this is defined as: what are you going to give them and what are they going to give you? In simple terms this could mean you offer a product in exchange for payment, but making an offer more compelling will yield better results. Things like ‘Save £50’ or ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ tend to grab the reader’s attention. A free gift in the form of a download, a report, or trial software work well in the email environment. The Offer is needs to be communicated in a crystal-clear way to your recipients.
The List
You might have a fabulous offer, but if you send it to the wrong contact list it will fail. You can either build your own database of contacts (which takes time) or purchase an opt-in e-mail list from a broker. If so, make sure you're dealing with a legitimate company with a good track record. Find out how each list was compiled and make sure recipients were added to the list only with their explicit permission. If you're buying advertising in an e-mail newsletter (e-zine), what is the topic and target audience of the newsletter? Make sure the list's recipients are the right market for your offer.
The Creative
In the world of advertising, 'creative' refers to the concept, copy and design of an advertising piece. With email, there may be some design restrictions but good strategy and powerful copywriting can make a big difference. Copy should be kept brief and focus on your offer.
Make your offer clear and include a call to action - in other words, tell the recipients what you want them to do and ask them to do it. Make it easy for people to respond or direct the reader to a web page where they can find out more details, fill out a form or send in an order. Pay attention to these 3 key elements and you will maximize the return on your email marketing investment.
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The Biggest Email Marketing Mistake
What’s the biggest mistake businesses make with email marketing? Simply, not fully understanding the amazing potential of this tool as a medium of communication. It’s one of the most dynamic forms of communication available today yet it’s also one of the most simple, quickest, and effective.
These days almost everyone has at least one email address. With more and more people choosing to shop online rather than brave the hustle and bustle of the high street, it’s easy to see the appeal of an effective email marketing strategy. What’s more, people enjoy receiving information, especially FREE information. If you consistently deliver information that has a high perceived-value, you will almost certainly generate interest in your products and services.
Consider the opportunities presented by email marketing. If you can just identify a small loyal percentage of the millions of internet users and get their email address then you have the potential to stay in touch with them on a regular basis via an email newsletter. Over time, others will join your mailing list either through recommendation from your other readers or by asking them to subscribe to your newsletter via the pages of your website. It’s not that difficult to substantially grow your contact list this way.
The next step is to develop a compelling message which you can start sending to your subscribers on a regular basis, (daily, weekly or monthly). Your newsletters should be short and concise with links to your website for a fuller version of each story. Remember, an email newsletter is an ideal platform through which to position yourself as an expert in your particular field or profession. What's going on in your industry? What are the latest developments in your trade? Find out, then write about it in your newsletter.
Make sure you’re clear about how you bring value, solve problems, save money, reduce time and effort, or provide solutions to problems your customers face. That way, the next time your email recipients need your product or service, they’ll be sure to think of you first.
Why you should do business with LiaiseOnline and please, share it with your colleagues. Then call us on 01753 852904.
Building an email marketing database
The recent email marketing seminar run by LiaiseOnline at the Renaissance Hotel in Reading was hailed a success by all those who attended. Aimed at entrepreneurs keen to grow their business via online channels, the event was well-attended by representatives from a wide range of businesses.
For those new to the concept of email marketing, the seminar clearly defined the basics of how it works: simply put, staying in touch with your customers and prospects via email (usually in the form of a newsletter) means they are more likely to think of you first when they next need your services. Some may be sceptical, but research and statistics have proved time and again that email marketing really works.
One participant who already uses email marketing told the group “Every time we send out our monthly newsletter, we get orders as a direct result – sometimes within minutes of sending it”.
If it works so well, why isn’t everyone doing it? And why does it work better for some businesses than others? How can you be sure your newsletters will be read and not consigned to the ‘Trash’ folder? What can you do to minimise the chances of your email being rejected as Spam? All these questions and more were answered by Jon Davey during the course of the day, covering all the essentials to creating successful email marketing campaigns.
A key point which deserves a mention: the need to create a quality email database of contacts. Jon explained there are many ways to build such a database, including just buying one ‘off the shelf’ from a list vendor. However, he maintains the best way to build a list of quality subscribers is through building relationships slowly over time. He stressed the importance of having a prominent link encouraging website visitors to subscribe to a newsletter. This approach has worked well for Jon with Business in Berkshire. Another seminar attendee added that he has never had anyone ‘unsubscribe’ from his newsletter – again, a result of carefully building customer relationships over time.
Asking permission, keeping it simple and giving value is the formula for making the power and potential of the Internet and email marketing deliver results that increase sales. How else could you deliver your message to thousands of recipients in just a few mouse clicks?
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A Short Guide to E-Mail Etiquette
Nowadays most of us communicate via email every day, so it makes sense to have some simple etiquette rules in place to ensure your emails are doing their job effectively.
Email etiquette (or should that be E-tiquette?) is something of a grey area. There are no hard and fast rules about what’s acceptable in the content of your email, although as a general rule email is accepted as a less formal method of communication than a traditional letter. So it’s acceptable to begin with ‘Hi….’ Rather than ‘Dear …’. Similarly, it’s fine to close your message with ‘regards’ or ‘see you soon’ rather than ‘yours sincerely / faithfully’.
It’s the sending and receiving of email where E-tiquette really comes into play. The golden rule to remember is to address your email to the primary recipient (in the ‘To’ field) and copy anyone else in who may be interested using the ‘CC’ field. DON’T just add a whole string of email addresses to the ‘TO’ field. Why? Because if there is an action point in the email, none of the recipients will realise who it’s directed to. Is it them? Should they take some kind of action? Or just assume someone else on the list will take care of it? Either way, confusion is the result.
What about the ‘BCC’ field? This is used to copy someone in on an email without the prime recipient being aware. Obviously this raises an ethical issue so should be used with caution – exercise your own judgement.
But the biggest email ‘Don’t’ is almost certainly the misuse of the ‘Reply to all’ button: one of the prime culprits responsible for ever-burgeoning inboxes. Let’s take an example. Someone sends an email out to 12 recipients to let them know about a meeting. Each one replies by checking the ‘reply to all’ button. The result: 144 emails taking up valuable inbox space and reading time for the recipients.
And I’m sure we’ve all received email from those that seem to copy in everyone in their address book, regardless of whether the message is relevant to them or not. This is often used as a ‘CYA’ tactic (ie, ‘I did send you an email about this last week…). Sound advice is to copy in those that really need to read the content of your email – otherwise you run the risk of generating tons of unwanted messages.
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Replying Promptly to Business Email
Businesses that do not respond quickly to email requests run a serious risk of losing business to their competitors according to a recent survey by web hosting company Fasthosts.
How often have you sent an email request to a company only to find yourself resending it again and again before receiving a response? It’s a common and frustrating problem which most of us have experienced. Indeed some of us may feel a twinge of guilt as we read this, recognizing that we too sometimes need a prompt or two before taking appropriate action with emails.
But a recent report by Fasthosts should leave no doubt that slow business email response can seriously impact your bottom line. Companies that fail to respond promptly are in danger of losing business to their competitors: around 90% of customers said they would take their business elsewhere if they could not get a timely response to an email request.
The Fasthosts report indicates that almost 80% of those surveyed believed companies were slow to respond, often requiring three or more emails before they received an acceptable reply from the recipient. Irritating enough in itself, there are often the added frustrations of automated email replies and broken email links from business websites.
So if you’re shifting uncomfortably in your seat, reflecting on your own sometimes slow response to email, what should you do about it? Firstly make sure your business cards, website, and stationery have your correct email address included. Be sure to check your email regularly and, even if busy, try to offer some kind of non-automated response which at least tells the customer you will be dealing with their enquiry. Above all, remember that statistic: 90% of customers will go elsewhere if they don’t hear from you.
Why you should do business with LiaiseOnline and please, share it with your colleagues. Then call us on 01753 852904.
Email marketing consulting is where LiaiseOnline started back in 2001. Today, unless you’re a big corporate with a branding mission, then email marketing should be used to communicate with those that care to listen!
Sending emails out uninvited to audiences will simply end in a world of hurt. People have too many messages coming at them already so they need to really want to hear from you.
They would want to hear from you because:
• you promise to enlighten them with your worldly wisdom and share knowledge that comes your way.
• they want more information on your products or services as they are currently in the market and have money to spend.
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