E-mail Marketing Essentials

Everyone loves e-mail. E-mail is great! It’s fast. It goes right to the desk of the target customer. E-mail is easy ... or is it?

For e-mail marketing to generate desired results, it takes work. There are courtesies and rules to be respected, lists to maintain and spam filters that may prevent your marketing messages from reaching their target.

One problem is that e-mail has proven so effective, everybody wants a piece of it; when it works, they try for more. In-box overload may be to blame for the decrease in effectiveness of e-mail marketing. When e-mail marketers had success when sending e-mails once a week, they began sending e-mails every day and, in some cases, two to three times per day. This type of in-box assault is soon viewed by readers as spam.

There are ways to revitalize content. When developing a special campaign, the same content can be repurposed two to three times, if sent several weeks apart. Re-arranging the content within the email is also critical. Eye-tracking heat tests show on a second and third mailing of identical content, a reader’s attention fades until they are barely scanning the page. When content is rearranged, readers process the e-mail as if it is entirely new.

Effective E-mail Essentials

There are a few essentials any e-mail must possess in order to pass spam filters and identify who you are to the reader.These include a verifiable IP address; an identifiable name, not a nickname or “user name”; directions and a working link for the reader to opt-out; accurate and complete contact information; and a compelling subject line. Avoid using disclaimers, such as “This e-mail is not spam.” Spammers do this all the time, and it’s a red flag.

Structuring the e-mail appropriately can also help cut through the clutter. With so many pressing deadlines and e-mails, it’s likely many recipients of your e-mail message will “preview” it in the small pane. As the window is only 2 to 4 inches deep, not much content shows up; however, it’s important to grab their interest to make them decide whether it’s worth their time to read the entire message. This means putting a strong lead “above the fold.” If it’s a sale, say so right there. If it’s a new product announcement, say that and make it sound exciting.

E-mails should also be kept short. If the message demands further details, provide a link to the full text of a well-crafted sales letter, or to the Web site where more information is available. Keep the sentences and paragraphs in the e-mail short. Remember to close with a call to action. People want you to tell them what is expected as a response. If you’re not asking for a response, they’ll wonder why you wrote the e-mail.

Keeping It Clean

Every online marketer is building a reputation with major servers. If you engage in certain practices, they may trigger false positives against your ISP, and your e-mail will be filtered out, even if it’s not spam. All of the major receivers—America Online, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, Gmail, MSN/Hotmail, Qwest, Road Runner, SBC (AT&T), Verizon and Yahoo!—have different, but similar, rules about spam. They agree about most red flags for spam-triggers, so copywriters are advised to avoid: the words “Special Offer;” words in all caps; exclamation points; language that suggests porn; use of meaningless symbols; deliberate and obviously misspelled words; oddly spaced words (i.e., S P A C E Jou_rney); and excessive use of graphics.

If an e-mail does hit a number of false positives that label it as spam, don’t despair. Help is available from organizations such as Spam Assassin that can run any e-mail through an audit to determine the spam score. This will reveal what to fix and how to do it.

In addition to developing clean copy, smart marketers must protect their most valuable asset—a solid gold, opt-in, privacyprotected, in-house list. The key is to watch the metrics closely. This includes open rates and click-throughs; but, most importantly, the number and reasons for bounces. E-mails bounce for only a few reasons, including non-existent addresses, a full mailbox, vacation/ autoreply, or “other” (e.g., blocked or labeled as spam).

Every month, it’s important to check the bounces. Correct the address issues, wait for the next month on “full mail-boxes,” and investigate the “other” category carefully, as that is where a company’s reputation as a mailer can be quickly ruined.

E-mail marketing is the most powerful tool marketers have, but it is effective only as long as readers accept those messages.

Pam Magnuson is a freelance copywriter and marketing consultant who has a degree in journalism/advertising and has worked with ad agencies in the United States and Asia. She studied herbal medicine for over 30 years. For more information visit PamMagnusonCopywriting.com.