Top Tips for Email Success

29th November 2009

Categories: News - Latest

Here at New Mind we appreciate that email marketing is a fast evolving world and with many of our tourism customers using it as a core element of their marketing strategy, we need to keep up to date with the latest trends.  Two members of our team have just returned from an email marketing course so we've pooled our knowledge to ensure that you get the maximum results….

Segment your audience

Remember that all your customers will be different.  One standard email will excite a few and leave others unimpressed so divide your list up into groups according to behaviour.  Basic information such as gender, age and likes and dislikes can be combined with more sophisticated data such as a customer’s last booking and what they clicked on last on your site to achieve the best results.  Think pea-shooter rather than elephant gun.

Timing

Think about what you want to achieve from the email.  There is no such thing as a good time of day for everyone on the list so it may be easier to look at other criteria such as your busy or quiet times, seasonality of products etc.

Subject Lines

Make the subject line as relevant and enticing as possible and always try to offer a value propostion, a call to action and a deadline eg. book before Friday and get 10% off….

Try to limit text to 50 characters including spaces.  Avoid spelling whole words in capitals and avoid obvious spam vocabulary.  

From

This is the first bit of information which influences the recipient’s decision to read or delete. Always use the same ‘from’ address and always send from your company name or brand.

Integration

The most successful campaigns are combined with other forms of on and off-line branding. Linking up an email bulletin with social networks can be extremely effective so why not build in a ‘share’ facility to allow recipients to send on content that they like to friends using Facebook or Twitter. This encourages people to forward content to entire networks rather than single email recipients.

Design & Content

Design templates help to maintain brand consistency and help recipients to identify who the email has been sent by.  Effective emails include the following elements:-

• Priority content ‘above-the-fold’ – this is the bit that the reader sees before having to scroll down the page so the key messages should appear here to maximise conversion rates
• Links – The links should allow the recipient to see which parts of the email are relevant to them and will allow you to monitor their preferences for future email activity
• Email Client Software – Find out if your clients favour particular email software and optimise your template around their preferences.  Remember that some software may not display your email as intended
• Design Grid – Good copy is important but it will need to breathe for it to catch the reader’s eye so don’t be afraid of white space
• Text Only – Think about providing text only versions for mobile devices, especially Blackberries
• Images – Use only where needed – once recipients have clicked on a link and have been directed to your website this is a friendlier environment for images, videos and general interaction
• Running Order – The design of the page should adhere to a visual hierarchy, guiding the reader from top left to bottom right
• Font – Limit the number of fonts and font sizes and remember that headings and sub-headings should only ever use one font
• Content – Keep sentences short and to the point and try to summarise each section in the opening sentence using headlines to highlight key content

Just because email is relatively cheap in comparison with other marketing media, it doesn’t mean that it’s easy but by adhering to these basic rules you should be able to stay one step ahead of the competition and improve your odds.

New Mind uses the Communicator email marketing solution, making it easy to send sophisticated, targeted and relevant emails .  Talk to your Account Manager to find out more or call New Mind on 0151 287 7791.

Source:- Econsultancy and The Marketer (November 2009)