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Back to Basics: 5 Things to Consider with Email Marketing - Continued

Five things to be considered with Email Marketing will be mentioned here and the other 2 things will be mentioned in the previous article - Back to Basics: 5 Things to Consider with Email Marketing.

3. Compose a Catchy Subject Line

When your email lands in your subscribers’ inbox, the subject line is first text your readers will see aside from the sender’s name. A key component of email success is writing a subject line that is compelling enough to influence readers to open your email. Your subject line could make or break the success of your campaign. If the subject line isn’t catchy, the email won’t get opened no matter how compelling your offer (the body of the email) could be. Your subject line forms an overall impression of your email. It sets the stage for the rest of the copy.

With email marketing, you have about 3 seconds and approximately 6 words (or 40 characters) to make an impression and motivate recipients to open your email. So take into consideration the following tips when writing your subject line.

• Tell readers what’s in it for them: Readers will look for the immediate benefit of taking the time to open your email. Your subject line should answer the reader’s question of “Will this email help me solve a problem, meet a need or make life easier?”
• Make your subject line “catchy” not “spammy”: Every Internet Service Provider (ISP) has spam filters to prevent unwanted messages from entering your inbox. Using all uppercase letters, exclamation marks or symbols could make your message appear spammy.
• Utilize motivating words: Choose words that motivate recipients to do something (complete your call-to-action). Words like “improve”, “enhance”, “focus”, “boost”, “discover” and “learn” are powerful motivating verbs to use in your subject line.
• Convey a sense of urgency: Urgency is the most powerful form of persuasion. Try setting a deadline for readers to act on your email. Phrases like “5 days left”, “last day to act” or “response required by” are good examples of creating urgency.

Ultimately, the best way to improve your subject lines is to test them. Over time, testing your subject lines will help you become better at formulating them.

4.Educate and Captivate

No hard selling. Your readers subscribe to receive email communications because they are looking for valuable information, not because they want to be bombarded with a bunch of different sales pitches. Leverage email marketing as an opportunity to position yourself as an expert in your industry. Keep readers engaged by providing them with tips and techniques that they will find interesting.

Ensure that each email has a specific call-to-action. Your readers are likely looking for educational and valuable content. As a sender, your purpose will vary from campaign to campaign. Whether your goal is to capture more information from your readers to further segment your list, persuade them to book an appointment, request for a quote, make a purchase, join a membership, etc. Either way, your call-to-action should be clear, concise and compelling.

5. Design Your Emails for Mobile

Mobile phones, and especially Smart Phones, have become indispensable assets for both personal and business productivity. Most marketers don’t know how many of their subscribers read emails on their mobile devices. But with the growing popularity of Smart Phones, like Blackberrys and the iPhone, it’s safe to say that more and more people use their cell phones for activities other than talking, such as reading emails. Take note of the following stats:

• 67% of B2B email users view their emails on their mobile devices (MarketingSherpa 2008)
• 64% of key decision-makers view emails on their mobile devices (MarketingSherpa 2008)
• 55% of consumers updated their mobile devices to get email on the go (Epsilon Survey 2009)

This often poses a problem for HTML emails. Not all mobile devices display HTML properly. Some will remove your images or stack them vertically while only displaying the text portion of HTML. Other devices will only display plain text. Be sure to design your email in such a way that your mobile users can read your emails properly. Consider items such as: screen size, character length, shortened URLs as well as ensuring the landing page or website you reference in your email is mobile-friendly.