From Start To Finish
There are many pitfalls which could land your email in the trash. Today’s post takes a broad look at how to produce more effective emails, from start to finish and beyond. For emails that we think are really great have a look at our “Email Design Hall of Fame 2012” as well.
At sign up:
#1 Clearly communicate your privacy policy.
Some customers may not give their email address if there is a chance you will sell it. If this is not part of your policy let them know!
What and How to send:
#2 Don’t overdo it;
Send a FEW relevant emails to specific customer segments. Define a maximum number of emails for each customer a month. Sending too many emails could be considered a nuisance and lead to a customer opting out.
#3 Send relevant content to customer segments
Make your emails more relevant to the customer by creating content based on customer profiles and what previous purchases or views.
#4 Send professional emails
Emails should be easy to understand and targeted. A confusing and irrelevant email could be damaging to your public image.
#5 Write engaging subject lines
This can often be a key element for open-rates. However don’t be tempted to draw people in with a false title just to get people to open it, not only will your reputation suffer, it’s actually against the law.
#6 Optimise for HTML or mobile devices
Spare a thought for what context your customers will view the email in. Image blockers and mobile devices could mean that your fantastic design could fall at the first hurdle. Try and limit the amount of images incorporated into the design and use html colours and text where possible, key information can be lost if you’ve used images to display text. Putting additional information at the top of your email can also be to improve click-through rates. It goes without saying that for text versions; emphasis to clear, concise and engaging copy is a must.
#7 Your primary goal shouldn’t always be to convert.
A customer may not always be interested in the key offer in your email, but they may be drawn in by something else. Providing various options and links of what you have to offer will help funnel prospects to your website.
#8 Abide by CAN-SPAM laws.
Don’t use false or misleading information this includes content and subject lines.
Tell recipients where you are located
Tell recipients how to opt out and honour these requests quickly.
Monitor contractors, you cannot contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law.
What next?
#9 Create trackable campaigns and analyse results.
After each email campaign record and analyse your results. What were the click-through-rates (CTR) and rates of investment (ROI) and compare these to the day and time of sending. A good record of this can help assess why certain strategies did or didn’t work and further optimise your emails to greater rates of sales.
#10 Make your links easy to convert
If readers are clicking, where are they landing? Don’t waste a click by taking them to irrelevant pages. This landing page should act as an extension and provide more information and compelling benefits to the customer.
Oh Wait…!
#11 Test Everything.
With all of the changes and fine tuning that will inevitably happen whilst creating your email campaign; it is worth some scrupulous testing before your email goes out the door. Test that link destinations are correct and view your email in various browsers and email clients to make sure formatting stays consistent.
The three main points to take away should be:
- Optimise your designs for HTML and mobile devices.
- Provide links to some of your other offers, applying most weight to the subject offer so the email is easy to understand.
- Testing your design on all possible platforms and browsers.
Need some help writing your Welcome Email? Get some Email Intelligence and
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