Ten Steps To Email Marketing Success

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Ten Steps To Email Marketing Success
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1. Target your list

Your email marketing campaign is only as good as your list. An opt-in house list will outperform any other list every time.

Always get permission to add the recipient’s email address to your list. Permission can be obtained via your website, or from direct mail or telesales requests.

2. Personalise the message

Personalisation sells!

Personalising messages with the recipients email address and name will increase your response rate significantly.

3. Use a good subject line

Your subject line determines whether your message gets opened or deleted. If your message is not opened, your marketing message is not seen.

4. Summarise the sales pitch

People decide whether to read a message within the first few seconds of opening their email. Tell them what the email is about within the first paragraph. Don’t try to make them read long copy just to find out - they won’t bother!

State the benefits of your offer early on in your message.

5. Test

Test your headline. Test your offer. Test your pricing. Test your landing page. Test everything!

6. Make it easy to read

Use simple text and short paragraphs. If sending text emails, use a fixed-width font and less than 65 characters per line. If html email, use a single column of text, avoid italics, and avoid underlining (unless it’s a link).

7. Make it easy to respond to

Always have a call to action ("click here") in your message.

Recipients should be able to contact you easily. Always use a real email address in the "From" field, and in the body of your message.

Make it easy to unsubscribe. If someone asks to be removed from your list, remove them immediately - if they don’t want to receive your messages any longer, let them go!

8. Use a killer sig file

A signature file is free promotion for your business - don’t miss a great opportunity to promote your brand.

9. Track your success

How will you know what is working best if you don’t track the results? Track replies, click-throughs, orders, AND unsubscribes.

10. Follow up

Don’t think of your message as a one-off - it takes time to build a relationship and establish trust. You MUST follow up with your prospects or you’re throwing away money. It can take 5 or more contacts to make a sale, but the recipient may well become a life-long customer.

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Email Checklist - Read This Before You Hit Send!
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*General

What is your goal?
Is the list opt-in only?
Are your staff aware of the campaign?
How are you tracking responses?
Is this the best time to send the offer?

*From address

Is the From email address valid?
Will recipients recognise who the email is from?
Where will email replies be sent?

*Subject line

Does the subject line capture interest?
Is it short?
Is it personalised?
Does it look like spam?
Does it avoid the common spam filters?

*Message body

Is there a greeting?
Is the greeting personalised?
Is your offer clear within the first few paragraphs?
Are the paragraphs short and easy to read?
Have you done a spell check?
Did you format lines with hard returns at 60 characters?
Do you have a single, clear offer?
Have you placed links 2-3 times within the message?
Do all links work? Are they clickable?
Do the tracking links work?
Is there a call to action?
Is there a PS?
Is there a signature file?
Are there clear, easy unsubscribe instructions?
Is there an automatic one-click unsubscribe option?

Permission email marketing is a very profitable way to build
your business, gain exposure, and improve customer loyalty.
By following the tips above, you'll get much better results.
I wish you every success!

Dr Russell Potter
CEO, Email Marketing Solutions
http://www.emailtools.co.uk
Mailing List Management - Email Broadcasting - Tracking

Hi Kohan,

>While I haven't done any tests myself, I'd suggest a
>subject line that emphasises brand and content is best.

I agree.

I have not formally tested using ONLY the brand name for the subject
line, since my own preference is to alter the subject line depending on
the message content or offer. As a general rule, there has to be a
benefit to get users to open their email - if it's just a company name,
there's no real incentive to read it.

A branded subject line can be useful to identifty the message, but I'd
always put a topic in there too. Of course, the topic could be consistent
too - "Marketing tips from XYZ" would be fine, for example.

Personally, I use the "From" field to identify any newletters I send out.
With the exception of my email marketing course, the subject line
varies and is used as a heading for the content.

However, a consistent branded subject line is ideal in certain circumstances.
The E-briefing & 7-day Summary from E-consultancy is a prime example
of when this is useful, since there is various content within each email
itself.

Have you downloaded the email marketing guide yet (available in the
knowledge area)? I'd be keen to hear your comments.

Russell