Email marketing
Email marketing is a powerful one to many online marketing strategy that can generate amazing results at relatively low costs. Email marketing can be broken down into transaction emails, direct emails and trigger emails. Each type can be very effective and be part of a highly successful campaign.
In the email marketing Section you'll learn about different email marketing tools, effective list building, best practices and advanced email marketing strategies. You'll be able to read about ways to increase email opt-in rates, maximize email open rates & click through rates, create effective auto-responder sequences and improve email deliver ability.
EMAIL MARKETING: Say It Proud!
Let's discuss the layout of your email newsletter
The Technical
When thinking basic format, I stick with what we humans are used to. I look at major
blogs and publications. These usually have a main title, an article heading, maybe a
teaser (I call this a subheading) and then some text. Oh, and an image too.
See? Pretty neat and easy to read, right?
While dual columns may seem attractive because well, you've seen emails with that format, I
tend to steer clear of that layout. It's a "noisy" format that's distracting and we like things that
are easy to read. So keep it simple!
Okay, I know what you're thinking: "but Dean, I just want to add some links along the side."
To that I say, don't put them there - place them up top. We're trained to look there. Visit every
website you like and you'll find the vast majority have their navigation links up top and not down
the side. Placing those "quick links" up top utilizes your email real estate to the best advantage.
The length of your email is worth exploring. I'm a fan of being concise and I like to scan an
email quickly and "get it."
Now many of you will have a lot to say on a specific subject. It's OK. Don't stress it. Do what
feels right. It's also worth taking a look at other options like hosting the real meat of a topic on
your website or blog and linking to it from your email. If that's not possible, well, still try to keep
it succinct. If your email needs 10 minutes of uninterrupted focus by your readers, it's probably
too long.
The Philosophy
Similarly, if your email takes you all day to write, it's probably too long. Be wary of
overcommitting yourself and creating chores. Creating your email should be fun and
easy.
Think about it like a new resolution - like blogging or starting a workout routine. If you try to
update your blog 10 times a day or by going from couch to running 10 miles in a couple of
weeks, you'll burn yourself out
In the email world, this applies doubly so. If you're tiring yourself out building intricate
compositions that rival websites in terms of content and design, you're probably also wearing out
your readers.
Start simple - you can always ramp it up. Single topic emails are easy to digest and easy to keep
up with whether your goal is monthly, weekly or daily. Besides, it's much less disheartening to
ramp up than down.
So, what is a topic? It's relevant content you want to share with your readers. It could be a sale
or it could be a new product. It could be an anecdote on your blog (by the way, check out Mad
Mimi's RSS to Email feature), something instructional, or it could be an event coming up. A
topic could be a "behind the scenes" look at photoshoot or the inspiration behind a new jewelry
item.
Topics I find interesting depend a lot on who the sender is (that's you!). If I'm receiving a
commercial email about new products in an online store, I like to know a little about the product,
why it's useful and sometimes, simply, what it does. Some newsletters that draw me in tend to be
more focused on telling tales. I love knowing the story behind a song or a work of art. I like
reading about what inspired a new menu item.
Don't feel that you need to write a lot to get your point across. If you think that a product image
with a brief caption is all that's needed, you're probably right. Sometimes topics can be shared
visually.
A topic is whatever your readers may want to hear about. Remember what I mentioned earlier -
you know your readers better than I do!
OK, so take some time and draft some content. If you want to move on in a hurry, grab some
lorem ipsum (y'know, that placeholder text) and read on!
