E-mail marketing is generally considered as intrusive and a
push method of getting your message across. However, its success has been
questionable as it is considered as Spamming method which has low results.
However, with proper management and execution an e-mail campaign can be a very
successful pull campaign to generate leads. This post will discuss some of such
Do’s and Don’ts to focus on:
Do’s
- First we need a good email Database to start with. What do we mean by “Good”, a database which is accurate and segmented according to the requirement. An organization should collect email addresses with the consent of the email owner and for the intended purpose (If it is for updating of new product information it needs to be used specifically for that purpose.)
- Design an attractive responsive (Platform independent) emailer. The design needs to be tested on multiple email platforms to be sure it would be viewable.
- Each emailer should have a link to display out of the email platform in the case of non-displaying and to unsubscribe from the database (And active for 30 days) if required and felt intrusive.
- The name of the emailer has to be shown with the physical mailing address
- Use tracking code for your email campaign to access the success rate of the campaign. You can use free scripts from Google Analytics
- Whenever you have in-links (URLS to specific content of your website or landing pages) use Google URL Builder to track.
- Refine your campaigns based on success and use A/B Testing to find out the optimal designs
- Use an email marketing software to have many email addresses in you To, CC or BCC fields. Eg: Mail Chimp, Get response, etc.. (You can find some free email marketing software in: http://blog.capterra.com/10-free-email-marketing-software-solutions-small-business-marketers/)
- Test your email on gmail, yahoo and other common email providers to see if it get spammed.
- Make sure you don't leave others email addresses visible when you email
- Never use deceptive headers, From names, reply-to addresses, or subject lines. eg: yourname@domainname.com
- Do not use Interactive Content such as Java Scripts, RSS feeds, Forms
- Spam Words such as CLICK HERE, Make Money, FREE, Discount, etc...
- Use pure HTML code
- Image to Text Ratio must be acceptable. Do not overdo images
- Do not send too many emails to the same receiver, send what is relevant and requested
The following Inforgraphic by GetResponse explains
everything in a easy to understand flow chart:
4 comments:
I am receiving so many spam emails which i did not subscribe. How could i avoid this situation?
Dear Rajeewa, There are few things you can do:
1. See if there is an Unsubscribe link at the bottom
2. Depending on your email provider and software you can mark them as spam which will send the mails to Junk mail
3. You can block the email address
Let me know if none of the above didn't work with the email client/provider you use. Hope this helps?
Thanks for the informative post. The main issue I see with Sri Lankan e-mail marketing attempts is the inability to unsubscribe, even when you specifically selected that option. I think some of the operators does not directly unsubscribe you, but try to send further more messages and check your tolerance. Simply this is BAD marketing, as at the end of the day you are left with an angry customer with an inbox full of spam e-mails.
Very True Uditha! This is the issue. First you have to have the link second you need to make sure you unsubscribe when requested. Mostly advanced mail servers and software does this automatically.
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