According to Forrester Research, 71% of online consumers say they receive too many email offers and promotions, averaging 110 messages per week. The good news is that they report opening two-thirds of messages they have opted in to receive. Here are 5 tips to increase your newsletter’s chances of being read.
- Make it interesting. Your subscribers are choosing to read your email, so make it worth their time. That means instead of going for the hard sale ‘buy this now’ approach, send them articles and information they will benefit from reading. Keep in mind the fundamental rule of all marketing – clients only care about ‘what’s in it for me.’
- Give them control. Because readers only care about what’s relevant to them, giving them the option to choose what topics they want to receive and how frequently they want to receive them can be critical to maintaining your subscription base.
- Say who you are. This is important to ensure your email is CAN-SPAM compliant. Put a recognizable name and email address in the ‘From’ field. Otherwise, your message is likely to be perceived as spam. Messages with a recognizable sender doubles readers’ likelihood to open the message.
- Use clear subject lines. This is also part of the CAN-SPAM act. Make sure you use subject lines that entice readers to open the email without causing suspicion that it’s spam.
- Test and revise. – Because email is low cost, easy to test, and has a fast response, you get immediate feedback from your mail. Constantly test industry benchmarks such as open and click-through rates as well as readers’ responsiveness over time.
Reader Decision Making Process
The decision whether or not to read an email usually takes place in a second or two. Your email should clearly answer the following questions:
- Who is this from?
- Why should I read it? What’s in it for me?
- Why am I getting this?
- How can I respond?
- How do I stop it?
Email Marketing Checklist
Before you send your email newsletter, make sure you have done the following:
- Use a recognizable company name as the sender
- The sender email address should be an active account that allows readers to reply
- Use a clear subject line.
- Make sure the email is less than 60k in size.
- Remind readers in the first line that they’ve opted in to receive this.
- Make your unsubscribe option clearly legible.
- Give readers a means of changing their email preferences.
- Use a clear call to action.
By following these guidelines, you can create a successful email marketing campaign.
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