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E-mail Marketing and how to build loyalty

There are two ways to conduct an e-mail marketing campaign, the right way and the wrong way. If you do it the right way, e-mail marketing works - you will see a boosts in site traffic and sales, and also never received a spam complaint.

Do it the wrong way, and your completely legitimate e-mail campaign will get caught and marked as 'junk'.

Here are a simple set of rules to follow so you don’t get tagged as a spammer? Stick to these rules:

Opt-In Only
Only send your e-mails to those who expressly ask for it. Build a simple subscription form on your web site - all you really need is the subscriber's e-mail address, and only send e-mails to customers who complete that form.

There is only one exception to this rule: If you have an existing customer list, and want to sign them up for the new list, send them a polite e-mail inviting them to subscribe.

An opt-in only list will start small, but remember a small list is also a targeted list. Pure opt-in lists see close to 40% 'click thru' rates. Non opt-in lists can't claim anything close to those numbers. An opt-in list will reach your targeted audience and uses fewer messages to do it, saving you money.

Keep it small
Your e-mail message should be no larger than 15 kilobytes: The total file size for all images and text should never be larger than this number. Anything larger will bog down computers with slow Internet connections and could be deleted as spam.

Remember that all your e-mail has to do is get the reader to click thru to your web site. You don't have to show your product in an extra large photo, or provide 10 paragraphs explaining your service. Save that for your site. Keep the message compact, and don't use more than one or two images in your message. The result will be a small, fast-loading e-mail message.

Keep it Simple
Try to design an e-mail message that looks good in a standard Microsoft Outlook or Eudora preview pane using HTML, images, or plain text. At a minimum, someone viewing your message in a small window should see your logo, and the basic message.

Macromedia Flash and various other streaming technologies seem like a great idea for e-mail, but they're a disaster - they lead to bloated messages and a whole array of compatibility issues. Don't drive your audience crazy - keep the streaming stuff on your web site, and out of the e-mail.

Avoid using One Image Designs
Even an HTML e-mail must include some text. Don't send an e-mail that's just one big image. Most spam filters now check for e-mails that contain images and no text, and automatically assign them to the junk heap.

Be Honest
Your e-mail subject line should clearly describe the content of the message. And the e-mail's 'reply to' address should be an address that goes to a human being.

Free Online Quote

One of our website designers or programmers will gladly meet you to discuss your needs on how best to develop your online requirements and how the internet can benefit your company, product or organisation, now or in the future.

Contact

To view our website design portfolio, please call
Pete Lister on 0845 003 1010 or email studio@artofdata.com