Email Do’s and Don’ts

Did you know that roughly 77-percent of consumers prefer email offers and promotions more than any other channel?

The ease of sending out mass emails with a potentially huge audience makes it very tempting to jump into email marketing for your business. However, before you do, consider some of these quick tips to keep you from immediately ending up in someone’s spam folder.

When it comes to a subject line,

DO:

– Make it strong and keep it simple

– Include your business name and relate it to the content

– Some effective tonalities include mystery, wit and excitement

DON’T:

– USE ALL CAPS

– Use a lot of punctuation!!?!?!

– Include spam words such as Bonus, Free, or Call Now!

 

When it comes to the layout/template,

DO:

– Make sure your brand is visible (logos, colors, etc.)

– Break up your email into a visual hierarchy, making the most important things the most obvious with defined sections

DON’T:

– Use distracting backgrounds

– Use a template that’s too wide, making people scroll around too much

 

When it comes to your content,

DO:

– Send content that people are waiting for and wish to see

– Make your content interesting and engaging

– Include calls-to-action

– Include visuals to catch a reader’s eye (just don’t make the visuals too large)

DON’T:

– Be demanding

– Make too many requests

– Include an entire blog post

 

When it comes to graphics,

DO:

– Make them visually appealing

– Include a caption just in case people have images blocked

DON’T:

– Use GIF files that move or flash

– Use intense images that distract the readers from your content

 

When is comes to your contacts,

DO:

– Segment your contacts into different lists (based on location, demographics, etc.)

– Change your messaging to fit the interests of each list

DON’T:

– Put everyone together on one big list

 

Who’s in Control of the Online Marketing World?

Image courtesy of Google Images
Image courtesy of Google Images

The online world has changed the way we look at and buy products or services. Online marketing is all about capturing the customer and being present at the right time while they’re searching, emailing, watching videos, etc. And now that you have this huge online world on your mobile devices, it’s essentially everywhere, all the time. The bigger shift is the shift in control. Because of how accessible content is, the customer is in charge of the buying process. They can share, ask, post, look up whatever they want, etc.

In order to tackle this huge market, there are different types of online types of media you’ll be using: Paid, Owned, and Earned. Paid media is what it sounds like, you pay for ads like Facebook ads, Google Adwords, or any type of display marketing. Owned media is like your blog, a list of people you email, your website, etc. Earned media is organic media you gain. Social media has changed the way we think of earned media, making organic reach play a huge role in your business.

All three of these types of media encompass online marketing. But even more importantly, you need to think of three different strategies before diving into the digital market. According to Brad Batesole from Online Marketing Fundamentals,

“…Many businesses are in such a rush to take advantage of the opportunity, that they fail to build out a proper strategy. Being digital for the sake of just having a presence in these channels is not the answer. The key is to build out a dedicated strategy that results in a strong return on investment.” You can check out his Twitter here.

The three main strategies to think of are a business strategy, a brand strategy (which we covered in an earlier post), and a market strategy. We’re going to be talking about building a business strategy and a market strategy in future posts so that we can give it the same amount of attention and detail. Stay tuned.