When strategizing for an upcoming email marketing campaign, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. These key concepts can make or break a campaign, so planning to attack them strategically is a crucial part of your success.
Creating a headline
- Do keep them short, urgent, and even sometimes catchy. You have but milliseconds to grab your reader’s attention before he or she marks your message as “read” and moves on. If you want them to consider reading your email to learn more about whatever it is you have to offer, you need to convince them to do so in less than a second. This means that the first 2-5 words they skim over are vital. Be sure to convey your headline clearly and effectively to ensure your message is read. You can try a play on words, alliteration, or action-oriented verbs to better entice prospective readers.
- Do not make headlines long or use sales terms. The length of a headline should be under eight words total (and even that may be too long), but the meaning of the words matters most. While action-oriented verbs are typically successful, sales terms like “buy now!” or “it’s almost too late!” can come off as pushy and even spammy.
Length of the body copy
- Do use graphics and interactive links. A picture is worth 1,000 words, right? Have a team of experts in graphic design (such as Compulse Integrated Marketing) assist in designing the images that go with your email. These images should tell a story or, better yet, be interactive. By allowing readers to interact with you via an email, you prompt immediate involvement instead of giving them time to consider other services after reading your pitch.
- Do not use lengthy text. The actual text in your email should be brief, somewhere between 50-125 total words. Anything more will likely lose the reader’s interest. Again, using images and interactive icons can help you say more without actually saying more.
The number of emails sent
Knowing how often to send emails can be tricky, especially if you are just developing a readership. You do not want to annoy readers, but you do not want to wait too long between eblasts and risk losing their interest, either.
While each campaign is different, it is standard practice for an email marketing campaign to send between two and three eblasts a week. These eblasts should be monitored and modified accordingly based on click-through rate, number of opens, and time spent viewing each email. A marketing agency, such as Compulse, can take care of the monitoring process for you.
Other considerations
- Do not use a “no-reply” return address. You want to encourage readers to communicate with you, especially if it opens the door for future business.
- Use a verified email account to send your messages. Doing so will lessen your chances of being sent to the spam folder while also coming off as more reliable for skeptical readers.
- Create a solid subscriber list built on quality leads. This is another Compulse specialty.
- Be sure the body text of your email uses your For many of your readers, this is your one and only chance to make an impression. You want it to be a good one, but more importantly, you want it to be yours. The words you write will be associated with your brand, so make sure you are comfortable with your email’s body before clicking send!
For more information about how Compulse Integrated Marketing can help your business build a solid email marketing campaign, please visit www.compulse.com, or call us at 844-821-2154.