TableofContentsINTRODUCTION

WHEREDOISTART?

KNOWYOURAUDIENCE

HOWFREQUENTLYSHOULDICOMMUNICATE?

WHATSHOULDICOMMUNICATE?

WHATABOUTTHEDESIGN?

THETEMPLATE

THEEMAILCONTENT

INCORPORATINGMULTIMEDIAINTOYOUREMAILS

HOWCANIMAXIMISEOUROPEN-RATE?

HOWCANIMAXIMISEOURCLICK-THROUGHRATE?

HOWTOWRITEEFFECTIVEPRODUCTANDSERVICEALERTS

HOWCANIDISTRIBUTEANDTRACKEMAILS?

AVOIDINGTHESPAMFILTERS

ENABLINGADVOCACY

KEEPINGITLEGAL

TECHNICALREFERENCEGUIDE

FORTHETECHIES

SUMMARY

IntroductionThereareanumberofelementsessential to thesuccessofaneffectiveemailcampaign,whichincludenotonlythecommunicationitselfandthetiming,butalsotheproductionofthe email and the template. How should an email template be designed?What are thetechnical implications?How do you engage your customers to click, buy, subscribe orinteract? How can you ensure that your customers receive your emails? How do youmeasurethesuccessofyourcampaign?

Thisexpertguideprovidesanoutlineofbest-practiceguidelinesforemailmarketingandincludes insights from hands-on experience of email marketing and digital marketingstrategy.

WhereDoIStart?Likeanyformofmarketingyouremailcampaignstartswithyourcustomer.Understandandknowwhatyourcustomerswillbeinterestedinreading.Nextthinkaboutwhatyouwant to tell them. What isyourmessageormessagesabout?What is theobjectiveofyourmessage?Willitbeanevent,productorofferalertoranewslettertosupportbrandawarenessandsoftselling?

The frequency and timingor your emails are essential also, aswell as ensuring that allrecipientshavesubscribedandcanunsubscribefromyournewsletters,announcementsandmarketingemails.

KnowYourAudience

Knowingyouraudienceisabsolutelykeytoengaging your customers effectively so that they read, follow, interact, subscribe andultimately buy fromyou. There are a number of techniques to thiswhich I teachon adaily basis. However, you can start by breaking down your audience into groups. Seesomeexamplesbelow:

Byindustry

Bysex

Businesscustomerorend-consumer

Theirinterests

HowFrequentlyShouldICommunicate?Onceyouhavedefinedyouraudiencegroups,youshould thinkabout themessagesyouwishtoconveyandhowfrequently.

It’s important not to spam your readers. At Echo E-Business Global Group, werecommendoneemailingperweekmaximum,althoughonoccasionssuchassocialeventreminders,forexample,twoemailingsperweekmaybeacceptable. Newslettersshouldbemonthlyorfortnightlyatthemost.Youmaywishtoincludeautoresponderswhichareautomatedmailingsprogrammedtooccurwhenareaderopensyouremailorclicksonaspecific link. Alternatively, you may consider scheduling emails to distributeautomaticallyatspecifictimesafteravisitorhassignedupforyournewsletteroralerts.

WhatShouldICommunicate?Newslettersareagreatwaytobuildarelationshipwithyourcustomer,andtheobjectiveof the email should be to offer useful content and support branding. Content-ledmarketingisapowerfulwayofdemonstratingthatyouunderstandyourcustomers’needsandinterests,thatyouhavesomethinginterestingtosay,andpotentiallyyouareabrandthey may wish to know better. Articles, blogs, opinion pieces, product launches andeventscanallbecontainedwithinyournewsletter.

Effectiveweb content strategy is key. Consider your email in the sameway as awebpage, considering where best on the page to present different items of content(information) for maximum impact, and what medium you will use (graphic, links tovideos,text,etc.),toconveyeachmessage.Effectivewebcontentstrategyisbothanartandascience,andyoumaywishtoseekadviceonthis.

Individualemailalerts suchasspecialevents,productannouncementsandoffersshouldalsobesent,butremember,asdiscussedabove,nottospamyouraudience.

WhatAbouttheDesign?The design should be consistent with your web site. The fonts, graphics, text andmultimediashouldbethesamecolourandstyleasyourwebsiteandbrand.Thinkoftheemail as an extensionof yourweb site – an additionalwebpage.Readerswill becomefamiliarwiththelayoutaswellasyourvisualbranding.

Thetwoexamplesonthefollowingpagesdemonstrateconsistentbranding:

Figure1–Example:DeborahGrantWebSiteandNewsletter–B2CbyEchoE-Business

Figure2–Example:TheLearnebusiness.comWebSiteandNewsletter–B2B

TheTemplateThere are a number of other elements, which need to be consideredwhen it comes todesigningyourtemplate:

toavoidthespamfilters

toensureemailsarevisibleinmostemailbrowsers

toensureemailscanbereadbyyouraudience

toworkwithyourchosenemaildistributionandmonitoringtool

Helpfulguidelineshavebeenprovidedinaspecialsectionatthebackofthisbookentitled‘TechnicalReferenceGuide’.Thevaluabletipswithintheguide,willhelpyourdevelopersanddesignerscreateoptimisedtemplatesforeachofyourmailingtypes.

MenuItemsMenuitemscanbeeditedasyouseefit,butshouldbedisplayedinawaywhichnotonlyechoesthewebsite,butfitswiththeemailcontent.Ifyouaregoingtochangethemenuitems regularly, it may be better not to use graphics for these elements, as this wouldrequiregraphicsexpertisetochangethem.

Figure3–Example:EmailNavigation

TheEmailContentHow you structure and implement the content of your email is key. Email contentstrategy,worksinasimilarwaytowebcontentstrategy,buthassomekeydifferences.

IncorporatingMultimediaintoYourEmails

Some emailmarketing tools allow you to send an emailwith an attachment, such as avideoorPDF,howeveritismuchbettertohostthatfileonyourwebsiteandlinktoit.Notonlydoes thisallowyou to trackwhoviews that file,butattachmentsoften triggerspamfilters,soyou’remorelikelytoreachyoursubscribersinboxifyouuselinks.

Whataboutimages?

WriteEngagingTextTheemailcontentmustbeclear,captivatingandconcise,andincludeaclearcall-to-actionforyourrecipients.

Textshouldbelimitedtoamaxof400wordsbuttheoptimumis200–250words.Thelesserthetextandthepunchier,themoreeffectiveitwillbe.Individualsreadwebpages,

email newsletters andalertsby scanning the text rather than readingall thewords. Onemails andweb pages, it takes 4 seconds to engage a reader and 20 seconds to lose areader.

Afewmoretipsforwriting:

Putyourmainpointatthebeginningandnotattheend

Avoidjargonandacronyms

Separatetextwithparagraphs

Usebulletpointsandsub-headingstohighlightpertinentinformation

Usenomorethan7bulleteditemsperbulletedlist

Whitespaceisvaluable–Lessismore

Avoidcolouringanytextbrightredorgreenasthiscanalertthespamfilters

Leveragecontextuallinks,asshownintheexampleonthefollowingpage,andlinktorelevanttextearlyandoften

Thefollowingisanexampleofcontextuallinking:

Arthritis is developing and bladder control is weaker, causingleaking,MixedVegetableTabletsareformulatedtotreatboththeseproblemseffectivelyandarebestgivenwithGarlicandFenugreekTablets

HowcanImaximiseouropen-rate?Your open-rate is important, even if a visitor does not click. The email content on anyparticulardaymaynotbeentirelyrelevanttoeveryrecipient.Howeversendingtheemaildeliversanopportunityforadditionalexposuretoyourpotentialcustomersandadvocates.They can scan your email quickly, which will help to keep you or your organisation,brands,productsandservicesintheirthought.Ultimatelythissupportsbranding.

GrabYourReadersAttention

HowcanImaximiseourclick-throughrate?Quitesimply–Engageyourreaders!Hereareafewpowerfultips:-

PersonaliseYourEmailsThereareanumberofwaystopersonaliseemails.Ensureyouremailmarketingtoolhasthefacilitytoautomaticallyaddyoursubscribers’firstnametothecontentoftheemail.

Dear<SubscriberFirstName>

Youmay alsowant to include the persons’ first name in the email subject, whichwillincreasethechanceofthemopeningtheemail.

Anotherway of personalising your emails is to tailor the content andmessage to yourreaderorreadergroup.

IncludeTestimonials

HowcanIdistributeandtrackemails?Manycontentpublishingsystemsincludeanemailmarketingfacility,howeverunlesstheyareverysophisticatedorcostlysystems,theyareunlikelytohavetheoptimalfeaturesyouneedforeffectiveemailmarketing.Werecommenddedicatedemailmarketingtoolssuchas‘Signup.to’.

Choosing the right tool for your individual needs and budget is essential. Prices varyconsiderably,butarenotalwaysanindicatorofquality.Thebesttoolsintermsofbudgetare those which price by the number of subscribers rather than number of emails yousend. There are good packages on offer, which allow up to 2,000 subscribers andunlimitedemailsforlessthan£50permonth.

Belowaresomeofthefeaturesyoushouldbelookingfor:-

Easytemplateuploadoremailwizardfacility

Tracksopen-rates,click-through-rate,unsubscribeandbouncerateandprovidesreports

Showswhoisopeningouremailsandwhattheyareclickingon

Socialmediaintegration-automaticpostingtoavarietyofsocialmediaapplicationssuchasTwitter

Easyformcreationtoolforsubscriptions

Campaigncomparison

Easeofformintegrationintoyourwebsite

AbilitytotrackwithGoogleAnalytics

Programmableauto-responders

Schedulingofemails

SMSmarketingoptions

Personalisation

‘SendtoFriend’facility

Easycontactmanagement

Allowsreaderstounsubscribe

Mobiledevicefriendlyemail

Intelligentanalyticsandtargetingtools

AvoidingtheSpamFilters

Thereareanumberofcostlymistakesyoucanmakewithemailmarketing ifyouarenotcareful. Onecommonmistake is sendingemails,whichtrigger thespamfilters. Spamfiltersaresoftwareapplicationssittingonyourrecipientsemailserverwhichblockpotentiallyunwantedemails.Ifyouprogram,designandwritethetextforyouremailintherightway,youcanavoidthemajorityofspamfilters.

Getthe‘From’EmailAddressRight!

Email marketing is a complex art, and it is impossible tocompletelyavoidallspamfiltersonallserversandemailaccounts.Infact,onaverage10-20%ofemailssentinacampaignarelostincyberspace.

Itisimportantthatyourdomainisnotbannedbyanyorganisation.Ifoneemailisblockedfrom your domain (www.yourwebaddress.com), all subsequent emails from anyone atyour organisation to your subscriber’s email organisationwill be banned. If you havecustomersorotherimportantconnectionsatthatorganisation,thiscouldhaveasignificantimpactonyourbusinesswiththem.

To reduce the risk of all emails being banned from your domain, you could use analternativeone.Forexample,ifyouownyourbrand.com,sendnewslettersandalertsfromyourbrand.net,oryourbrand.co.uk.

Forconsistency,ensurethatthesameemailaddressisusedforallcampaigns,andthatapersons’nameisusedratherthanageneralemailbox.Thisisalsorecommendedinlatestlegislation.

Thesendersnameshouldincludeyourbrandnameaswellasaphysicalperson’sname,forexample:james.brown@yourbrand.com

SpamTriggerWordsList–WordsandPhrasestoAvoidThe following are examples of many words and phrases identified as high-risk spamtriggerwordsandphrases.Usesynonymsinplaceofthesewordsorverylightgraphics.

Opportunity

OrderNow

Free

FreeGift

FreeOffer

Guarantee

PromiseYou

Prices

Unsubscribe

ApplyOnline

BeAmazed

BuyDirect

CallNow

CallFree

VisitOurWebSite

ClickBelow

DearFriend

It’sEffective

MoneyBack

FreeSample

AllNatural

WhileSuppliesLast

OtherSpamFilterAvoidanceTacticsforTextThefollowingadditionaltipsareprovidedforavoidingspamontext:

Donotoveruseexclamationpoints.Forexample!!!

Donotusecapitalletters

Usesynonymsforspamtriggerwords,orutilisealightgraphic

EnablingAdvocacy

SendtoFriend‘Sendtofriend’isausefulmarketingfacilityandshouldideallybeplacedatthetoprightofyouremail,asacall-to-action.

SocialMediaIntegration

KeepingitLegal

UnsubscribeIncludeyourcompanynameandanunsubscribebuttonatthebottomoftheemail.Thisisalegalrequirement.EmailstoUScustomersalsoneedtoincludethecompanyaddress.

TechnicalReferenceGuide

FortheTechiesThissectioncontainsguidelinesforprogrammers,andisimportantthattheyfollowthesewhenprogrammingyouremail template.Thiswillnotonlyensurethatyourreaderscanviewyouremail,butalso tohelpensureyouremailsarenot flaggedas‘Spam’by theiremailservers.

Email clients (such as Outlook) and browsers are unique, in that each one will renderelementsof anemaildifferently, somenot at all. The following technical requirementshavebeenprovidedtoallowthebestvisibilityinthemajorityofemailbrowsers.

TechnicalProgramming–HTMLversusCSSThe template and email should be programmed in ‘HTML’ and not ‘CSS’. CSSstylesheetsmustnotbeused.

DonotuseCSSdeclarationsinthe<head>ofyouremails.MostwebmailclientssuchasHotmailignoreCSSinthe<head>,soyoushoulddeclareyourCSS‘inline’.

Wrong:

<style>

.heading{font-family:Arial,Sans-Serrif;font-size:10px;color:blue;}

<style>Right:

<p style=“font-family: Arial, Sans-Serif; font-size: 12px;”>LatestNews</p>

Whatabouttables?Tablesareimportanttothesuccessofyouremaildesign.Nestedtables(newtablesinsidecells),displaymuchbetter inemail clients than splitting rowsandcolumns.No spacersandnonbreakingspacesforemptytablecells.

Separateyourheadingsintablecellssothatyoucanapplyan‘inlinestyle’tothecellandfreelychangethetextviaa‘WYSIWYG’toolwithoutdeletingthestyle.

EmailWidthandHeightMostemailclientswillonlydisplayemailslessthan550pixelswidewithoutscrolling.

750pixelsisagoodmaximumwidthforemailcampaignsasitfitsintoverticalpreviewpanesonwide-screenmonitorsandfitstoA4printmargins.Furthertoouranalysisofanumber of browsers againstmarketing objectives and optimal customer experience,werecommend750pixelsasamaximumwidthsize. Youshouldalsoconsiderdesignsizeand programming implications for mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad and Android

enableddevices.

LinkingtoyourwebsiteEnsure all links open to a page on your web site, and that you use the codetarget=“_blank”inordertoopenanewwindow.Thisisparticularlyimportantforbrowserbasedemailaccountssuchashotmail.

EmailFileSizeTry to ensure that the entire contents of each email message including images are anoptimum50kbandamaxof100kb,soit’squickandeasyforyourreaderstodownload.Ensureimageshavean‘ALTtag’.

EmailBrowserSupportandTesting

SummaryPlanningyouremailstrategyandindividualcampaigns inadvanceiscritical. Consideryour audience aswell as the timing and frequencyof your emails. Ensure you engageyour customers through quality information and plan the content around each emailcarefully.Programyouremailsfollowingtherulesabove,avoidspamtriggers,andensureyoutestthorouglybeforesending.Chooseadistributionandmonitoringtoolsuitableforyourbudgetandneeds,andmakesureyousendonly to recipientswhohavegivenyoupermission.Ifyoufollowthesegoldenrulesyouwillhavearecipeforemailmarketingsuccess.GoodLuck!

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