When business owners begin email marketing, they need to be certain that they understand the rules and manners involved. There are methods for handling email marketing in a professional manner that will assure the happiness of the customers and have them anticipating each email you send them. Read this article to learn how to properly use email marketing.
Always proofread your emails. It’s essential that your emails or newsletters are correct, especially if you want to appear professional. Before you send the message, test the layout of the email so you can ensure everything shows up as intended. Also, if you place links in your email, test them to make sure they work.
Try to stay consistent. All of your emails should employ the same color scheme and feature the same logo. Choose a font everyone can read easily. Once you have sent a few emails, your recipients will be able to immediately recognize them, and will start to take notice. Like most other fields of commerce, email marketing relies heavily on building a bond of familiarity between customer and merchant.
If you have images or graphics, put them on the left side of the email message. Make sure that your call to action element is always on this side. Research has documented that this location produces almost double the number of clicks to your product, service or website than placing these elements anywhere else does.
Be sure that your landing page lives up to the customer’s expectations. The subscriber is obviously interested in your product if they have clicked on the link in your email. You do not want them to be disappointed by clicking on the link, and finding the page to be other than what they thought it would be.
To make a clear and memorable impact with every email, keep your marketing messages short and sweet. Every email should have a very clear message and should only include information, media and links that are completely relevant to that message. A succinct but convincing email will be easier for your readers to absorb than a windy message that tries to force too many points.
In addition to using email marketing, incorporate SMS marketing into your campaign. Have customers sign up for an SMS option and send them text messages when on the go. When these two methods are used together, you have a better chance of getting more customers to sign up for your product.
Remember that your subscribers are more and more likely to use smartphones or other mobile devices to view your emails. These devices lack the resolution of high end computers, so word count and careful use of graphics becomes very important. Educate yourself about the constraints of these small displays, and test your emails for readability on such devices.
Not only should you provide your subscribers with an easy way to unsubscribe, but also you should ensure that it goes into effect immediately. Receiving emails from you after they have unsubscribed will give recipients a negative impression about you, harming any future relationships with them. Process requests to unsubscribe right away.
Provide your customers with an incentive in your emails. Give them a little extra encouragement to give you their business. For example, you could use a free shipping promotion on orders over a particular amount.
Show your consumers that you give importance to their time by sending them emails containing worthwhile information. Respect the customers’ intelligence by only sending well thought out emails containing pertinent information, not merely sales pitches. Instead, give them information they can use, such as solutions to problems or new uses for familiar products.
Be certain your email marketing plan has an option for unsubscribing or opting out. Even though sending emails is basically free, they can still take money out of your pocket. Furthermore, the negative publicity and blowback from being seen as an aggressive spammer is not only bad for business, but can result in blocks and black listings online.
When designing your opt-in form, do not pre-check boxes by default. Leaving boxes unchecked ensures that customers are actively engaged in the opt-in process, which makes them more likely to sign up only for the content they truly want to receive. This saves your customers from the hassle of unchecking boxes that don’t interest them, and it boosts your trustworthiness.
Try sending birthday messages to your subscribers. You can allow a place when your readers sign up to include their birth dates. When their birthdays arrive, you can create a message that can be sent to them. This can build a positive and personal relationship with the recipient that can really boost your business.
Use plain text and hyperlinks in your email messages, and save the images and Flash animation for your web page. Many email services now filter out images and animations in the name of consumer safety, meaning that your lists may not even see your carefully-crafted images. Plain text messages are guaranteed to go through intact, and then the images on your website will catch your viewers.
Use your email marketing campaign to offer customers a personal perspective of your business. Tell a story about how you got started and why you are passionate about your business while giving them a special promotion or offer. It will build trust in your clients and make them more apt to make a purchase from you.
Check your email messages across different email providers to see how they look. By doing this, you’ll be able to ensure that your emails are standard enough to be compatible with the most popular email readers. Be as thorough as possible when doing this, so that you don’t miss any segment of your customers.
This article has shown you that it is necessary to have the right etiquette when it comes to email marketing. Business owners that are not courteous will see subscribers drop out of email lists. Remember this advice to make sure your client base grows.
