Serasi

The average person spends more time every day reading his email than he spends doing anything else on the web. As a matter of fact, his email often distracts him from the other tasks he needs to accomplish. With this in mind, it’s safe to say that email marketing is a very powerful tool.

Today I want to share a few best practices you should keep in mind as you develop your email marketing campaign. They’ll help you to get through to your potential clients more effectively.

Make sure your email isn’t spam.
Everyone has some sort of spam protection software included in their email accounts these days. Your job is to learn about spam filters and the things they identify as spam so that you can avoid having your email sent straight to the junk box. For example, using the words “Free” or “Discount” in your subject line might get you flagged.

Personalise your emails.
Address your subscribers as individuals - not as generic groups. A person who feels like he’s being addressed as a single person is more likely to respond to you than someone who feels like he’s a nameless face in a crowd. It’s easy to slip some simple code into your email template so that the names in your address book pull through.

Make it easy to unsubscribe.
As silly as this sounds, making it easy to unsubscribe from an email list is paramount. The easier it is for a person to unsubscribe the less likely they will be to mark your email as spam or file a complaint with a better business bureau. The unsubscribe link should immediately take your subscriber to a page where they can opt out - no questions asked - no additional email confirmations necessary.

Send emails on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Tuesday and Wednesday are notorious for being the best days to send emails if you expect a high response rate. On these days people are already over the last weekend and they’re not yet planning for the next one. They’re open to communication and, in some cases, are looking for something to do.

Be consistent.
Be consistent in both your communication frequency and the look of your newsletter. If you promise to email your clients once per week - do it. No more, no less. People appreciate things that they can grow to expect and are sometimes resistant to change. Don’t change the format of your newsletter or email unless you’re absolutely sure it’s going to be viewed as an upgrade.

In the time it took me to write this post I received 5 emails, 3 of which are email newsletters that I’ve subscribed to. They arrive regularly each week and always offer tons of valuable information. Would I consider your email to be just as valuable?

Good luck setting up your email marketing campaign.

Sean