Email Marketing, E-Newsletters, Email Newsletters

Useful Email Marketing Techniques

There are three main formats used in email marketing campaigns:

1. Plain text email messages, usually highly personalised and informal
2. Email postcards
3. E-newsletters

Regardless of what format you choose to use and when, there are some important points to keep in mind. You should firstly provide quality information to your clients, preferably something in which your clients will perceive some personal value. This can include insightful articles on a topic of interest, interesting quizzes, useful facts and genuine breaking ‘news’ items that have some kind of emotional resonance. When email recipients realise an email they received is offering them something worthwhile such as knowledge or information about a particular niche subject, they are much more likely to spend time reviewing the rest of the email.

Perhaps the most important element in any email marketing campaign is the subject headline. Spark interest by using extra white space creatively, adding text symbols, starting each word with a capital letter, and asking compelling questions. This must arouse enough curiosity for your subscribers to open your email in full. Only then should you then take full advantage of their attention by introducing some subtle references to your business and its products, or links to your website for further information. Subtlety is maintained through language style and clever use of links, two other important techniques in ensuring your emails are not designated as spam.

Avoid language which makes outrageous claims, and uses superlatives that describe the greatness of specific products - this will without doubt be viewed as blatant advertising. When this happens, it is unlikely your subscribers will perceive any validity in your message, rather they will judge the entire email as simply one big, biased advertisement for your products or services.

Finally, keep references and links to your website to an absolute minimum. Shrewd email users often view links within an email to the associated business’ website strictly as an advertising ploy. For this reason it is smart to keep links to a minimum and carefully weave them benignly into your copy. The links should be provided as though they were only included to provide you with an opportunity to learn more about the products and not as a way to encourage you to purchase these products.