Top 10 email marketing tips
Email marketing is ideal when you want to reach thousands of potential clients. It is very cheap and you can create an effective and regular dialogue with your readers whilst enhancing your brand.
1. Understand your readers
Like any media, make sure that you provide your readers with the information they want. This will improve the click-through rates and encourage people to read your next newsletter rather then select the "unsubscribe" link.
2. Personalise
Practice shows that personalised content produces the best results, with better open- and read-rates compared with the one size fits all approach.
3. Do not leave an empty Subject line
Most empty Subject lines get spammed so make sure you don't leave it empty or your email won't get past spam filters.
4. Do not use deceptive Subject lines
The Subject line should pertain to the email and be informative enough to encourage the reader to open it whilst not being too long. It should not be in capitals, or contain exclamation marks.
5. Clear From lines
The From line should clearly state your company's name or your name. Avoid spam From lines such as "Message from a friend" that are being used quite a lot by spammers.
6. Provide a plain text as well as an HTML version
Most readers respond better to an HTML email but sometimes complicated HTML emails get blocked by the recipient's internet service provider. Plain text, although not blocked as often, is simply not appealing but it is accessible to blind people. So the best is to send your email in both format.
7. Unsubscribe link
You must provide the reader with the ability to request that you do not send any future emails to that address. These requests must be honoured.
8. Make it short
Just like any web content, people reading your email scan the content to see if anything interests them. Remember, web readers are always in a hurry so keep it short, to the point and ensure it is relevant.
9. Be consistent
You should be consistent with the frequency with which you send your emails. It can be one a day, once a week, or once a month but make sure you stick to it. The more consistent you are, the more your clients will become familiar at receiving your emails and this will help building your brand.
10. Be creative
Last but not least, unless you create a compelling Subject line your email will end up in the Deleted items box. More companies are sending out more emails, therefore less customers are responding to their communications. The first point of contact with potential clients is the Subject line of your emails. It has to reach an audience that is literally bombarded with email advertising. So try out different Subject lines and compare the open- read-rates for each Subject line.
