Top 10 Email Marketing Tips
If you’re new to email marketing and want to know more about what you should and shouldn’t do, read our handy top 10 tips below;
- Avoiding spam filters
When you’re sending out emails to your list of clients, it’s crucial that they bypass any email spam filters so that the recipient can read them. There are a number of words commonly used in spam emails that you should avoid using in your subject line and main text, these include; “free”, “save” & “discount”.
- When to send your emails
A lot of research has been done into what day is best to send email newsletters and it’s been found that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the most effective in terms of getting people to read them and take action, such as clicking a link through to your site.
- Personalise your emails
You can dramatically improve your email marketing response rates by personalising your emails, for example starting with “Dear Jim” rather than a simple “Hello”.
- Unsubscribing
Any email newsletters you send out should have a link within them that allows the recipient to unsubscribe quickly and easily if they want to.
- Send a confirmation email when people subscribe
If you have an email newsletter sign up box on your website then it’s best practise to confirm that the details submitted are genuine by sending an automatic message asking for the email address to be confirmed. By using this method known as “double opt-in” you know you’re not sending unwanted emails.
- Consistency – design, tone and time
Consistency matters in email marketing in terms of the design of your emails and how they tie in with your other marketing materials.
The tone of the text in your emails should also be consistent and is part of building brand recognition.
Finally, you should send your emails out on the same day at the same time. So if you send a weekly email on a Tuesday at 10am, then you should stick to this schedule every time.
- Keeping promises
If people sign up to a monthly newsletter via your website then that’s exactly what they’ll expect. Don’t decide not to send an email one month because you’re too busy or you run the risk of your subscribers losing interest.
- The all important subject line
As we’ve already mentioned in tip#1, there are certain words you should avoid in your subject line. You should also try to make your subject line as interesting as possible so rather than using “March Newsletter 2010” you should try to entice people to open the email, an example would be “10 Fire Protection Tips for Your Business” which could be used to help sell more fire extinguishers.
- Include a signature
Email marketing is no different from sending a normal email so you should have a signature at the foot with a name, phone number, email address and a link through to your website.
- Monitor your statistics
If you’re using a professional email marketing service you will have access to a whole host of information on how effective your email campaign has been.
It’s important you monitor things like bounce rate, the number of people who’ve unsubscribed and what % of people opened the email, as these details will help you to devise better emails in the future.
If you liked this article you may also want to read my beginner’s guide to email marketing
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