When a business owner first sets up an email marketing campaign, he or she may unknowingly breach established standards of etiquette. Keeping your email communications professional is key to building strong relationships with your customers. Keep reading for the best tips on email etiquette for email marketing.
Perhaps an obvious, but nevertheless critical, email marketing tip is to verify the accuracy of all email addresses. It would be a waste of time to have to find the correct email address and resend your emails. It simply wastes precious time!
Keep in mind that the sole purpose of building an email list is to sell your wares. Your emails should make your readers want to buy your products. This can be done in a few different ways, including providing information on new product launches, revealing new ways to use existing products, or offering discounts on popular products.
Try to send emails without pictures. While interesting and fun, images increase load times and can cause your message to be ignored. Remember that not everyone functions on the same internet quality or computer speed that your business does. Focus the majority of your efforts on your content, rather than images. By doing so, it is more likely that people will read your message.
Create rich and relevant content in your emails in conjunction with sale information. Present special articles or information that is unique to the email and not your site. Another idea is to have special offers that are only available via email. Send out relevant information, special discounts and seasonal greetings; avoid sending emails that ask for a sale every single time.
Do not send more than 1 email a week to your subscriber base. Remember that your subscribers are busy, and that they probably receive a lot of email each day. If you send too many messages, your customers may just tune out your messages and only read the messages they deem important (and marketing messages are never deemed important).
Your email subjects must be eye-catching and enticing. Doing so increases the chances of them opening and reading your content. If the subject line is bad, the email probably won’t be opened.
It is a great idea to require your customers to double-confirm when typing their email address into your newsletter. People often don’t type their email addresses correctly. Common errors include transposing two characters or using the wrong TLD (.net instead of .com, for instance). If they do so, it is much more likely that their email will be correct.
Look at spam to learn how to avoid looking like it. Make an extra email account and sign up at various places online. Take a look at how much spam immediately floods your inbox. See what’s wrong with these emails and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes. Taking measures to keep you from spammers can boost your brand’s credibility.
If you want to cover all your bases when marketing through email, be sure to use multi-part messages. Emails that provide plain text content, as well as HTML, ensure that the recipient can display the material. The extra work it takes will be worth it if you can prevent a plain-text only subscriber from leaving your list.
When following up with your prospects, you should consider sending a follow-up email that includes a message about your products or services. Remind them that they are welcome to compare products and prices. Let them know about any other valuable information, such as guarantees or testimonials, to help them with their purchase decisions.
It is smart to allow interested parties to double opt-in before receiving emails. This will protect you from spam complaints, possibly saving your website from being shut down by your host over reports that you’re sending out unsolicited email.
Use “Alt” tags on the images you use in your email communications. If your reader has images turned off, or is on a device which doesn’t allow him to view images, he’ll still know what was supposed to be in that spot. Make sure that you write informative and relevant descriptions in these tags so that your recipient will be fully informed. You should also use descriptions for your links.
As time goes on, more and more of your subscribers will be viewing your emails through a mobile device such as a smartphone. Mobile devices have lower resolutions, so your space will be limited. Know the limitations that you have when it comes to these small displays, and ensure your emails can be read on a phone screen.
In general, don’t send important email marketing messages near holiday time frames. People are normally not at work and are not spending time at their computers, so most likely they will not see your emails. Keep in mind that there could be exceptions to this. Some examples of this are occasion-specific campaigns such as Black Friday specials.
A great way to build an email list is to give visitors a conduit through which to register for your future mailings. Provide links and sign up boxes on your website, social media and even on email receipts.
Consistency is key. Keep your company’s logo and the colors and style you use the same in every email. The font you select should be easy to read. Your recipients will be more aware of the appearance of your messages and focus on them. Familiarity counts even more for email marketing campaigns than it does for other businesses.
Educate yourself on everything you can find on the subject of email marketing. There are lots of books both online, as well as in libraries. Also, attend as many classes and workshops as you can find locally.
If your business follows branding guidelines, always keep marketing emails consistent with these guidelines. Design new correspondence to match the color tones you have been using. Also, make sure your logo is prominently displayed on all outgoing messages. Once your brand has gained a favorable reputation and people already trust it, your emails will benefit from its good name.
As said previously, business owners must use proper protocol with email marketing. You will lose customers if you don’t use common courtesy. Use the tips you have just read to send out the best emails possible.
