5 Deadly Sins of Email Marketing
Email is a powerful integrated marketing tool, but a poorly considered message can end up in one of the circles of email hell - deleted without being read or relegated to the spam filter. Avoid committing these deadly sins:
1. Over-promising. Take care that your subject line is compelling, but free of spam triggers. Even if your offer is fabulous, nothing screams scam like “100% guaranteed” or “free.” MailChimp offers some insight into spam filters. Don’t blanket with offers that only apply to a few eligible readers, and never bait and switch. Once you lose your readers’ trust, you’ll be hard-pressed to get them to open an email from you again.
2. Over-explaining. Your readers are busy and, let’s face it, have short attention spans. Get to the point right away and use short, bulleted copy.
3. Overwhelming. If an email a month is good, one every day is better, right? Uh, no. Check with other areas of your organization to coordinate send schedules and avoid creating email fatigue.
4. Over-designing. The design should be engaging but, in general, not the focus of the email. Since different browsers render images differently, or not at all, make sure that the most important messages are in text format to make sure they appear to pane readers (think Outlook) and those who don’t turn on images.
5. Over-complicating. People expect email to be convenient. If you want them to take action, make sure it is easy to do - one click if possible, two at the most.
A coordinated and comprehensive approach is your first step to avoiding the deadly sins of an email program.
I really like this article, Judy. I was sent here by Jon Kidder who left a comment on my blog, and I really enjoy the look and message of your company’s site! Would you consider guest posting something similar about email marketing for my blog readers? For example, I’d love to read more of what you have to say on points 2 & 4… Email me if you’re interested, or stop by my WritingontheWeb.com site and leave me a comment!