In December 2006, Forrester Research reviewed 63 e-mail campaigns from top businesses in the six industries of: products and services, consumer goods, financial services, media, retail, and travel. Companies involved in the study included CNN, iVillage, Coldwater Creek, Expedia, InterContinental Hotels, Sears, and the New York Times.
Sixty-two of the 63 e-mail campaigns in the study failed the best practices review! All of these companies are rich with resources and capable employees, yet they still got it wrong. If Fortune 500 companies can't get it right, what hope does that give small business?
Avoiding E-mail Campaign Mistakes
The truth of the matter is that both small and large businesses make the same mistakes that cause e-mail campaigns to fail. Creating a successful e-mail campaign is simply a matter of following best practices. Here are six tips for improving e-mail campaigns as recommended by Forrester Research:
#1 - Above the Fold
Put important content above the fold. The term "above the fold" is a reference to a direct mail letter. The most important information needed to be above the fold of the letter. Today, the term refers to the screen of the computer. Put your most important information above the bottom of the computer screen. The action statement needs to be above the fold. If readers have to scroll to get a call to action, they may not read it.
#2 - Recognizable "From" Line
Make the "from" line of your e-mail a recognizable company name and sender. People want to immediately know who is sending them an e-mail. If they don't recognize the sender, it could be deleted without being read. In my e-zine mailings, I always have the "from" as my company name and my name separated by a hyphen: Internet Word Magic - Michelle Howe.
#3 - Value Driven Subject Line
Use a subject line that communicates value. People are bombarded with too much e-mail. Our inboxes are overflowing, and we can't waste time opening e-mails that appear to us as a useless sales pitch. So consider creating a subject line that is more than descriptive. Make people want to open the e-mail by showing value. It goes back to the old marketing truth of people want to know "what's in it for me." For instance, the subject line "Baby Boomers Can Save on Car Insurance" is a value benefit subject line that would invite an open.
#4 - Easy to Subscribe
Make it easy to subscribe on your website. More than 50% of people arriving at your site will come through the homepage. Include an e-mail sign-up form on the home page, above the fold. Don't make a visitor click to another page for the registration. Also include a privacy policy statement near the sign-up box or provide a link to the privacy policy.
#5 - Easy to Read
Make the e-mail easy to read. Remember, people like to scan, they don't like to read. Use strong headlines, bullets, bolding, color, and logical layout to create clear copy. Keep the content concise, to the point, and benefit driven.
#6 - E-mail Subscription Control
Allow recipients to control their e-mail subscription. CAN-SPAM rules require all e-mails to offer a way to opt out of future mailings within 10 days. The easiest way to meet this guideline is to use an e-mail provider like Constant Contact that automatically includes a link to unsubscribe in all footers of e-mails. Additionally, make it possible for subscribers to update their preferences, profile or e-mail address by linking to an online preference center.
Conclusion
Creating a successful in e-mail campaign is a combination of following industry best practices and always looking for opportunities for improvement. Strive to create a positive brand experience that creates a positive e-mail conversation.
Thus, you need to delete these unwanted e-mails before you even get a glimpse of the important ones. So instead of manually deleting these spam e-mail, it is recommended that you download or purchase an antispam software.
Spam also poses a threat to internet users because it may contain virus which can infect your computer system. And some spammers are very good in making their e-mail to appear as legit.
They can disguise as if you know then and may convince you to download the attached file that contains a virus. They also do certain tricks to hide their real addresses so even if you are blocked their e-mail address (that shows up in the "From" field of a received e-mail), their e-mail can still get through to your mailbox. But with the help of antispam software, spammers and computer viruses can be avoided.
Antispam software helps you fight the battle with unsolicited e-mail. E-mail service providers will basically give you options to block certain e-mail address thus; you can block a spammer's e-mail address. However, antispam software offers an extensive list of features that your e-mail provider may not have.
Although there are many available antispam software to choose from, they still offer similar services or features such as:
Allow or Block list. To save time in deleting unwanted e-mail, you can use the antispam feature to filter the e-mail you are receiving based on the e-mail address. This can either be done by creating allow or block list.
Allow list will contain the e-mail or domain addresses that you wish to receive e-mail from while a block list will mostly be the ones you consider as spammer (or can also be people whom you know but wish not to communicate with them via e-mail).
Filtering based on e-mail subject or content. Spammers commonly used vulgar or adult words (sometimes too offending).
Thus, filtering based on a keyword is helpful in blocking these spammers. Antispam software will allow you to create keyword list. If an e-mail contains a keyword you have specified, it will not go into your mailbox.
E-mail virus-scan. Since there is a possibility that a virus is attached in a spam e-mail, antispam software also offers e-mail virus scan.
Some software even offers automatic scanning once you open the e-mail and will also automatically remove any virus on an e-mail. Some will also automatically delete an e-mail that contains a virus.
Auto-detect spam. Antispam software can also offer automatic filtering. This filtering can be based on profiling. Spam is determined based on what you or the software consider as spam.
Your profiling is determined when you block or delete an e-mail because you consider it spam. Then, there are also cases that the antispam software already received a lot of report from a specific e-mail so it can be automatically considered as spam by the software itself.
With the great features and benefits that an antispam software offers, stopping spammers in abusing the e-mail is now made easy.
Both Michelle Howe & Dave Poon are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Michelle Howe has sinced written about articles on various topics from Karaoke Music, Email Marketing and Web Development. Michelle Howe, MBA, president of Internet Word Magic, specializes in writing irresistible copy for websites. Transform the way you do business. Visit her website at