Introduction

As you may know, most people now spend more time reading their emails than browsing the web. Email is one of the most powerful mediums you can use to talk to visitors, customers, and prospects.

In this article, I’ll discuss 15 best practices that you can use every day in your email marketing activities. Used wisely and consistently, there is no doubt that you will see a greater response from your subscribers, whether it be more comments, more product/seminar registrations, or even more orders.

1. Avoid spam filters

Most large Internet service providers now use rigorous anti-spam mechanisms to catch unsolicited email before it reaches their customers’ inboxes. Spam filters typically “sort” each email based on a number of different criteria, and if that email rates above a certain level (like 10 spam points), it is marked as spam and deleted. .

To ensure that your emails are not flagged as spam and removed before they reach your subscribers, avoid using words like ‘Free’, ‘$$$’, ‘Save’, ‘Discount’, etc. both the subject line and the content of your email.

2. Maximize click-through rates

Both web pages and emails can contain a large amount of text and graphics, and this can sometimes make it difficult for your subscribers to perform a certain task, such as clicking a link to view your special offers.

Numerous research papers tell us that most Internet users respond better to a plain, bold, blue text link like this, rather than a banner or button. So, if you’re going to include links in your emails, make sure they’re bold, blue, and underlined. This will mean more subscribers click, which means more conversions/sales for you.

3. The power of customization

If you were standing in a crowded mall, which one of these would catch your eye: “HEY YOU!” or “HEY JOHN” (assuming your name is John). The power of personalization can and should be used in your emails. In fact, simply starting your email with “Hello [subscriber_name]Instead of the boring “Hello”, you can increase your read and click-through rates by up to 650%. Why? Simply put, it’s because your subscribers feel like they already have a relationship with you as you have approached them. by his first name.

4. Unsubscribe with a click

If you want to grow your mailing list, then there are 2 things you absolutely must have: a double opt-in process and a quick way to unsubscribe. In some countries, it is required by law for every email to have an unsubscribe link. The unsubscribe link should take the recipient directly to a page where they are then politely removed from your mailing list.

5. Confirmation of registration

Don’t be accused of spamming, always, and I mean always use a double opt-in confirmation process. Double opt-in means that after your visitor initially enters their email address to subscribe to your list, you should send them a “confirmation” email. This email should contain a special link to your email marketing program, which will then verify that this visitor actually signed up for your mailing list.

6. Tuesday / Wednesday = Highest Response

Studies by online research analysts have shown that the best days to mail out to your list are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as this is when people are most receptive to communication. This means they are more likely to read your content and click on the links, which means more sales.

On Mondays, everyone is still recovering from a hectic weekend. On Thursday and Friday, people are already too busy waiting for the weekend. In fact, we experimented with this and got the best results when sending emails around 2-3 pm (US Pacific Time) on Wednesdays.

7. Repeat email communication

An autoresponder is an email that is scheduled to be sent at a certain time interval after someone subscribes to your mailing list. Autoresponders are a great way to automatically follow up with your subscribers or give them more information about your products/services.

For example, if you provide a free newsletter, you can set up 3 autoresponders for new subscribers: the first one is sent 1 hour after they subscribe. It contains a thank you message and a link to get a 10% discount on your newly released ebook.

The second is sent 24 hours after they sign up, telling them about your community message boards, and the third is sent 72 hours after they sign up, where you can offer them a special offer to become a paid member of your site.

Autoresponders help your subscribers build trust in both your company and your brand, and this can help make it easier to try to close future sales.

8. Consistency is the key

If you’re publishing a newsletter or regular email post, be sure to keep the look and feel consistent from topic to topic. By keeping the look and feel consistent, you help maintain and strengthen your brand and image to your subscribers, which will again make it easier to close sales when you need to.

Create a template for your newsletter and every time you need to create a new issue, use that template as the basis for each issue.

9. On time, always

When you send a regular email to your subscribers, always make sure it is sent the same day, same time. For example, every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Your subscribers will come to “expect” your email to arrive in their inbox on the same day at the same time each week, which means they want to read your content and are generally more receptive to any special offers or promotions you offer. can include.

10. The half-second subject line

When your email arrives in your subscriber’s inbox, you usually have around half a second to grab their attention with your email subject line. After this they will either delete your email or ignore it. In your subject line, try to specify a benefit that the subscriber can expect from reading your email. For example, instead of using ‘OurSite Newsletter Number 1’, use ‘OurSite Newsletter: 10 Tips for Financial Freedom’.

11. The Free Bonus Link

Free is overused these days, especially on the internet. However, if you’re looking to grow your subscriber list, create or get a product of value to your visitors (such as an ebook or discount coupon) and offer it for free when they sign up for your newsletter.

To make sure they don’t just type an email address into your signup form, set up an autoresponder to send them the free bonus 1 hour after they sign up for your newsletter.

12. The preview pane

Popular email clients such as MS Outlook show a preview of an email when it is selected in your inbox. Always have some interesting content at the top of your email, as this is the part that will be displayed in the preview window of your subscribers’ email program. If it’s interesting enough, your subscriber will open your email and continue reading.

13. Link-Click Test

When creating marketing emails, try to use different text for both the content and the links. Also try repositioning images like logos and buttons. After sending about 3 different emails, compare the click stats and see which one performed the best. Now, when you need to send marketing emails in the future, you’ll know you’re sending the right combination of content and images that will attract the most clicks and ultimately the most sales.

14. Email-Based Learning

Add value to your website, build trust with your visitors, establish your credibility, and get more signups to your mailing list by setting up an email-based learning course. To do this, simply create a series of autoresponders (eg 5) that contain unique content. Then, schedule the first one to send after 24 hours, the second after 48 hours, etc.

15. Always sign on the dotted line

Always include a signature at the bottom of your emails as it is one of the easiest ways to drive more traffic to your website. This signature must include your personal data, your company data and a link to unsubscribe. You can use your signature to link to your website and even other products. Here is a sample signature:

• Greetings,
• John Doe.
• President – XYZ Company.
• Visit our website at http://www.companyxyz.com
• Unsubscribe from this newsletter at [http://www.companyxyz.com/unsubscribe..].

Conclusion

By implementing the 15 best practices outlined in this article, you can take your email marketing to a whole new level: attract more subscribers and build both your brand equity and credibility at the same time.