Email Tips 2010

Email marketing and communications tips and trends 2010

Why email?
Cost and time savings
More effective tracking and targeting
More interactive for today’s consumer
More efficient
Formatted for delivery method
Less work for the reader
Content available for keyword search
Hits back to your web site —show what else they are missing
Consider hybrid

Back to basics
1. Identify sender – actual person’s name, PLUS company name
Does everyone know the name of your CEO or President?
2. Subject line – why should I care?
"And we're off!"
Well, who is "we," and where are we off to?
Spell it out
Remember length – Blackberry, smart phone, etc.
3. Make images optional
Many email clients and smart phones suppress
Never put call to action, most impt. info., in image only

If you build it…
Plain Text
Works in every email client, web based email providers, mobile, etc.
Loads faster, no issues with images, attachments, size limitations
Personal, important, late breaking
Quick to turn around

Plain text tips
Keep line lengths short with hard returns at end of a line. Email software has a nasty habit of breaking up lines of text in inconvenient places. Your carefully written sentence can end up like this.

Plain text tips
Use the shortest URLs you can.
A broken line of text looks ugly, but a broken URL doesn't work at all.
Use redirects on your own server, or a service like http:// www.tinyurl.com / (esp. content management systems – long URLs).
Make sure you use full URLs (including http://)
Insert a space on either side of the URL to help email clients make them clickable.

Plain text tips
Create headings and sections. A big block of text is hard to read, especially plain text with no color or different font sizes to help people scan.
Can use lines of repeated characters underscores (_______) or asterisks (********) to emphasize and break email into sections.
Make sure the text is well structured and clear – focus is on the content!

HTML format
Information laid out like a web page, visually appealing, easier to scan and navigate
Single biggest advantage is ability to format
More organized, easier to read and act on

Getting technical
Most important content should appear at or near top
Plain text version should be available for people who can't, or choose not to, view HTML
And “View as web page” link for full html
Avoid CSS
Use inline styles to control other elements such as background colors and fonts

Set the table Using HTML tables is the only way to achieve a layout that will render consistently across different mail clients Percents: Set table width to 98% or smaller – some mail clients need 1% padding on each side. Pixels: Standard pixels wide is between 400 – 600 px Can purchase tested HTML email templates and customize to your preferences, or build an html page from scratch

Design & layout
Extension of print and web site's branding
Image and font styles, colors, etc .
Single column and two- column layouts work best for small window size
Design “from the top” – most impt. info. should be seen with minimal scrolling

Design & layout
Colors should match website and other promotional materials
Brand your efforts
Consistency in color is good

Enewsletters
Header, containing a logo/publication name/company name
Some navigation links from the parent web site to reinforce branding and familiarity
Footer with links, CAN SPAM requirements, instructions for unsubscribing

Promotional emails
Less content and links
Usually one main message or action
Call to action is key!
Make use of one dominant image with little explanatory text and links– less reading required

Writing with purpose
Your choices will depend on your goals
If you want to drive traffic to the site, use skillfully-written teasers w/links
If your newsletter is about building reputation as a provider of information, having the full content in the email might make more sense
Audience is key – are they motivated to follow a link?
Don't try to tell too much — make them targeted with exception of an enewsletter and even then limit topics.
Have a good idea of what you want the reader to do (Call to Action!)

Test, test, test
Outlook (versions), Yahoo!, Google Mail, AOL, Hotmail, other web-based
Mobile readers, blackberry, iPhone, smart phones
Determine domain names in your mailing list

Improve your results
Try, and track, small, controlled changes
Boring subject lines work only when you have a very strong relationship with your subscribers
Try action words, Google AdWords “Keyword” or “Search-based keyword tool” (based on your website) for trigger words
Think first 50 characters
Days of week and time of day
Avoid spam triggers such as “free”

More best practices
Absolute links, store email IMAGES on web server (for example, /images/email/), and don't delete.
Set links and pdfs to open in a new window (target="_blank").
And be sure to include “(pdf)” or “download” or the Acrobat pdf icon.

More best practices
Make sure your email displays with images turned off.
a background image to provide a background pattern or color, with white text over it.
“ x”
alt tags

Easy to miss
Is the subject line correct?
Dates, times, facts
Is the contact information correct? Call the number!
Ask readers to add your “From” address
Unsubscribe
CAN SPAM requirements

Easy to miss
What happens when it’s forwarded, when someone downloads your pdf, etc. – Branding! Leave-behinds!

Inspiration
Subscribe, Subscribe, Subscribe
Best way to get new ideas
Think:
Your Industry (healthcare, real estate, engineering, education)
Your Profession (writing, communications, design, web development, marketing)
Your Interest (pets, reading, cooking, sports)
Some of best ideas come from OUT of the box!
Follow links to web versions of enewsletters to look at code -- How did they do that???

Trends
Personalized and Relevant: What’s in it for me? Gain and retain trust, send messages they find most valuable, and market to where they are
Segment your messages
Action, reaction
Special landing page
PURLs (Personalized URL) tracked, personalized

Trends
Create enews from your blog
Blog-RSS feed-signup– automated every time you post to blog, keeps no-maintenance line of communication open
Create raving fans
Allow (ask) readers to comment, give feedback, participate
You learn more about your customer, your members, your client, your audience

Trends
Expand communities
Most effective efforts lead traffic to and from each other: web, social media, blogs, and back
Make it easier to find you, your products and services
Postings on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn include links back to your enews content
Make subscribing to QUICK and EASY
Web analysis of referrals from social media

Trends
Email Invitations, RSVPs, Surveys and Opinion Polls – register, track and learn about your readers
www.myemma.com/surveys / and “customer stories”
Mobile email use is rampant . People now check their email in the bathroom, the church pew and, well, other places people can't drag a desktop.

Remember
An email inbox is a very noisy place
Subscribers may only read the subject line – action words!
Permission matters, and relevance trumps permission !
Meet your legal obligations — Federal CAN SPAM
Make unsubscribing easy — No point emailing people who are not interested. Auto unsubscribe is best, easiest! “Remove” will work if you have someone dedicated to maintaining the list.
Image blocking is common – again, alt tags!
Remember your audience
Test, test, test

Resources
Small list? Sending via Outlook is ok
Large list? Dedicated server, consider outside onilne service (see list), and/or get with your IT

Resources
Lyris.com
ConstantContact.com
CampaignMonitor.com
www.amazingmail.com/purls
MyEmma.com
MailChimp.com
evite.com
BenchmarkEmail.com
Campaigner.com
GetResponse.com
iContact.com
VerticalResponse.com
spamcheck.sitesell.com
CAN SPAM www.ftc.gov/spam
email-standards.org Help designers understand why web standards are so important for email, while working with email client developers to ensure that emails render consistently. Community effort to improve the email experience for both designers and readers alike.

QUESTIONS?
www.womcom.org
[email_address] twitter.com/christybd linkedin.com/in/christybroccardodavis slideshare.com/christybd

Email Tips 2010

by Association for Women in Communications, Springfield Illinois

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