Follow these guidelines to develop a comprehensive, effective e-marketing program.
With spam at epidemic levels and phishing and virus attacks threatening the industry, e-marketers face the challenge of getting their messages through to the right audience, while following e-mail marketing best practices.
Although many of the principles that govern print and broadcast media apply to e-mail, e-marketing has its unique set of opportunities and pitfalls. Here is a list of do’s and don’ts to consider:
IDENTIFY YOURSELF
Do use an e-mail address that your audience readily recognizes. Sender recognition is essential to successful e-mail marketing. According to a study by DoubleClick Inc, the “from” line is the most compelling reason to open permission-based e-mail. To foster stronger relationships with your customer, use a person’s name. Custserv@xyzcompany is not nearly as friendly as sarahg@xyzcompany.
Don’t send from ill-defined or veiled e-mail address. Unknown senders are tantamount to spam and will probably be deleted before opening. And don’t forget to include your bricks and mortar address, as well as a telephone number.
GET PERMISSION
Do know who you want to market to and have their permission. Define your audience: Is it your customers, segments of your customer base, or prospects? Have a system to gather and update your database of e-mail addresses. If customers are your target, make sure that they opt in and agree to let you send them e-mails. Nothing will kill a strong customer relationship faster than unsolicited, unwanted e-mails. Also, be sure that all recipients have a way to unsubscribe.
Don’t ignore the unsubscribe opt-out. Be prepared to conform to the Federal CAN SPAM Law. All unsubscribe requests must be handled in 10 days, and if you have multiple databases, you must unsubscribe across all lists.
SPRUCE UP THE SUBJECT LINE
Do have a short, compelling message. The subject line should be no more than five to eight words and capture the reader’s interest immediately. Discount offers and compelling news information have the greatest impact, according to a study by DoubleClick Inc.
Don’t be misleading. Your subject line should be persuasive and create a sense of urgency, but it must be truthful and reflect the content of your message.
CAPTIVATING CONTENT
Do make your content succinct, relevant, and useful. Practical, useful, easy to understand, and timely are the guiding principles in developing your content. How-to-do tips and lists of goals (“Ten Ways to Save on Your Insurance”) are highly successful ways to capture the customer. Your content needs to be captivating each and every time, or your reader will find no value and won’t return. Personalizing your message and segmenting your customers will help yield better results.
Don’t pontificate or promote yourself. As is often true with printed materials, e-mail marketing is frequently written from the company’s viewpoint. Nothing will kill your open rate more than a self-serving message. Worse yet, it can irreparably damage a trusting relationship with a customer.
CALL TO ACTION
Do include and repeat a call to action. Your e-mail marketing is designed to engage and interact with your reader. Decide what you want them to do (sign up for a service, buy something, request an article, visit your Web site, etc.), define why they should do it, and clearly explain how. Keep it clear, direct, and compelling. Give one or two choices — such as “click here to learn more” or “click here to buy now” — and repeat them two or three times in the promotion.
Don’t confuse your customer with too many choices or too much information. Your e-mail marketing is not the place to go into copious detail. Your call to action should link to the appropriate page on your Web site with more details. If you don’t have a Web site, include a store location or number to call.
TECHNOLOGY TEST
Do know your audience’s technology comfort level. Unlike print or broadcast media, all of your readers won’t see your e-mail marketing in the same way. Some have older computers with dial-up connections. Some have PCs, and others have Macs. Unless you have a highly tech-savvy audience, it’s best to use HTML with caution. Always test your promotion before launching.
Don’t require downloads of software or PDFs. Speed is one of the beauties of e-mail marketing. Many people won’t bother viewing material and demonstrations that require downloads.
FREQUENCY THRESHOLD
Do know your readers’ frequency tolerance. There are no hard and fast rules governing the frequency of e-mail marketing. Frequency preferences vary by product and consumer; as a rule, it’s better to send news-related messages daily, while mailing special offers weekly or monthly. Let your content and readers lead the way, but follow a set schedule — and stick with it.
Don’t blast promotion after promotion. People don’t want to be bombarded with e-mails, and unwanted blasts quickly end up in the Delete folder. On the other hand, send e-mailings too infrequently and you risk being forgotten. To keep your brand in top-of-the-mind awareness, I’d recommend e-mailing at least monthly.
TIME TO SEND
Do send your e-mail marketing piece midweek and midday. According to DM News, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday achieve better results than the beginning or the end of the week. Also, mid-day delivery is more productive than morning or evening. Be cautious though — this can vary by industry — retail offers can be effective at the end of the week.
Don’t send on Friday or after 3:00 p.m. E-mails sent on Friday or late in the afternoon often get lost in the end of week or day rush.
RESPOND QUICKLY
Do respond in less than 24 hours, preferably immediately. According to the DoubleClick Inc. survey, 45% of consumers expect customer service response e-mails within 24 hours while 44% say from immediately to 12 hours.
Don’t delay. In the same survey, only 9% found a two-day response acceptable.
MONITOR PERFORMANCE
Do track your open and click-through rates. This provides a great source of data. Because people often don’t bother to unsubscribe, the open and click-through trends tell a more complete story. Gather as much information as you can about your customers and their buying habits and constantly refine your message.
Don’t expect unreasonable results. E-mail is instant: People will respond to it or they won’t. Average open and click through percentages are not high. According to DoubleClick, Inc., average open rates for customer lists run in the mid-30% range and 8.2% for click-throughs. Rates are much lower for third party lists: Less than 20% open rate and 0% to 2% on click-throughs.
CONCLUSION
E-mail marketing is fast, economical, and easy to use. It enables you to interact with your customers in ways never before possible. Use it as a supplement, not a substitute, for other marketing initiatives. A well-planned, cohesive approach will strengthen your brand and help create a continuing stream of customers.