We all want to avoid making mistakeswith our email
marketing. But the best way to do the right thing is to start with the right
strategy. Here are six of our top tips to help you manage your email
campaigns for the best results possible.
1. Maintain a Scrupulously Clean List
List maintenance starts with permission, so consider using a
double-opt-in procedure. Equally important as you build your list is regular
data hygiene. A recent Experian survey found that more than
90 percent of companies suspected a quarter of their data to be inaccurate. As we’ve
said before, dirty data will get you into trouble.
Relying on outdated customer lists with invalid or even
fraudulent email addresses will increase the chance your emails bounce, get
caught in spam filters or cause your customers to complain. And none of this
will be good for your email reputation.
2. Protect Your Reputation Religiously
As we reported in an earlier post, as much as 77
percent of email delivery problems are based on sender reputation. Sender
reputation is a measurement of the extent to which you follow the standards
established by Internet service providers (ISPs). A poor reputation will cause
your emails to end up in spam folders or even get blocked entirely.
To protect your reputation, keep your list clean using emailvalidation, a double opt-in process and an easy way to unsubscribe. Use
dedicated IP addresses as well so you don’t have to worry about the poor
reputation of other mailers.
3. Welcome New Customers
Are you utilizing a stream of welcome emails? You
should be. “After the customer has registered for future emails, downloaded
your whitepaper or entered your sweepstakes, there often is nothing to enhance
that relationship,” says Jeanniey Mullen, partner and director of email
marketing at OgilvyOne Worldwide, in CRM Magazine. “Companies need to
think about what should happen next.”
Ogilvy’s research suggests the first three emails are the
most critical. Start with an introductory message that sets expectations and
lets subscribers tell you what they want. Follow that up with an email that
points subscribers’ attention toward the unique benefits of subscribing,
whether that be discounts, coupons or high-value information. And finally,
begin to deliver on subscribers’ expectations by sending the outstanding
content they’re looking for.
4. Engage in a Dialogue
“Too many people approach email marketing as yet another
opportunity to make their sales pitch,” says AJ Kumar in Entrepreneur.
“But that’s often a shortsighted view.” Instead, Kumar suggests marketers
should “help now and sell later.”
Marketing guru Seth Godin adds, “Every step along the way
has to be interesting, useful and relevant.” In other words, marketers must
take a long-term view of the relationship. After all, it’s only over time that
the marketer will turn the subscriber’s permission into profits. Still, it’s
worth it to wait. “This personalized, anticipated, frequent and relevant
communication has infinitely more impact than a random message displayed in a
random place at a random moment,” Godin claims.
5. Follow Smart Design Strategies
Because ISP filters often block images, important visual
elements of your emails might never be seen. Ogilvy, however, has found users
are most likely to respond to visuals, particularly when copy
is on the left of the image. Ogilvy has even seen increases up to 75 percent by
simply moving the call-to-action button next to the image rather than below it.
So how do you ensure your subscribers actually see what you
send? Many marketers offer both plain and rich text email versions [LINK
to “Optimizing Emails for HTML and Plain Text”], or provide links that display
the full HTML version on their websites. Additionally, experts recommend you
don’t base your entire message around an image. Instead, use live text for your
most important copy. And where you must include an image, be sure to also add
an alt tag so that, in the event the image does not render upon opening the
email, the viewer can understand what the image is supposed to be and can
choose whether to open it himself.
6. Have an Exit Strategy
If subscribers stop opening your emails, it’s likely they
are no longer interested or no longer receiving your emails. In either case,
Mullen recommends you define a set number of non-response messages after which
you reconsider your strategy. Start by taking steps to validate the email
address. If the address is still valid, offer the subscriber an “opt-down”
option as an alternative to completely unsubscribing. With opt-down, the
subscriber can choose to remain on your list but receive fewer emails or
receive emails on only a limited number of topics. In this way, you’re able to
maintain your list but honor your subscriber’s wishes and ultimately improve
engagement.
Creating and managing an effective email marketing campaign
may seem like a complicated challenge but follow these tips and you’ll soon be
sending smarter emails that actually make it into the inbox and get read.
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