Shanu Singh Guliani

How Do I Get Customer's to Open My Emails?
January 8, 2007

According to Forrester Research, 8 out of 10 broadband users delete most commercial e-mail without reading it, and 6 out of 10 say most e-mail doesn't offer them anything interesting. Although many of us keep throwing them in the trash, with its extremely low cost of implementation, e-mail marketing is becoming the tool of choice for businesses nationwide. For superior results, be sure to follow these important tips.

Build a Qualified List.
Putting together this list is easier than you think, and it'll result in fewer spam complaints, better deliverability, and most importantly, better open and click results. If you have an e-commerce site, obtain registrations during the checkout process. You could also display a registration box on the main page of your Web Site. But don’t forget to provide an incentive to register. This incentive can be anything from notification of sales and specials, a free newsletter or, to a speedy checkout on future purchases. Brick-and-mortar retailers can acquire email addresses at the register.

Be Recognized in the From Field.
Recipients quickly scan the “from” and “subject” lines and make immediate decisions about whether or not to open your e-mail. Most people open an e-mail knowing and trusting the sender, followed by an intriguing subject line. Use your company name in the “from” field and in the "subject” line where it will be clear to recipients to recognize your messages, and increase the chance that your e-mail will be opened and read.

Take Advantage of the Preview Pane.
Some e-mail programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, open e-mail in a smaller window called a preview pane. Use the preview pane to further draw in interested recipients by placing offers near the top of the page. In addition, keep in mind, that more and more preview panes disable the graphics in your message. So examine your message templates and content in advance, and make sure readers can still understand them with the graphics turned off.

Create Personalized Content.
Know your customers. What you must realize is that if you want to sell to everyone on your list, you'll need to use different approaches. For instance, you'll want to use a different approach to sell the same product to men than women. You can do this by including your recipients name or by breaking down your list into different groups based on geography, demography, or buying behavior (i.e. purchase history, e-mail click history, visits to your Web site).

Keep Content Simple.
With email you have only a second to engage the reader so it's important to keep your key message simple, focused, and to the point. Promotional messages should focus on one main offer and consist of short statements and bulleted text in an easy-to-read font.

Get Your Recipients to Act Now.
Explain to readers why they need to “act now,” with reasons such as limited availability, subscription expiration, or offer-ends dates. In addition, displaying hyperlinks and big “click-here” buttons, accompanied by explanations of exactly what “clicking-here” and “going there” does, make it easy for recipients to understand what you want them to do.

The Bottom Line: In October 2004, the Direct Marketing Association reported that e-mail marketing topped every direct marketing channel except telemarketing for return on investment, including dimensional mail, direct mail, newspaper, coupon and catalog advertising.

Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on January 8, 2007 | Comments (2)