6 Best Practices for Email Marketing

We’ve uncovered a truth about email marketing: It works! However, if you’re just joining the party you may have to adjust your marketing habits. Your focus will need to shift from quantity to quality. For example: Like it or not, the law states that you must get explicit permission prior to sending and email. Email marketers must demonstrate a certain level of agility in handling the opportunities that arise from this very interactive marketing channel.

Here are 6 best practices to consider when developing an email marketing strategy:

1. Deliverability is Key
Even if your customer has agreed to receive email from you, you may find it difficult for your email to get to their inbox. Most large ISPs now use thorough spam protection systems to filter any email it thinks may be unsolicited, before it gets into the customers’ inboxes.

To avoid being flagged as spam, and therefore go unseen by your subscribers, avoid using spam-trigger words like “sale”, “free” and “offer”, etc in both the subject line and the body of your email.

2. One-Click Unsubscribe – Make it Easy
It may sound counterintuitive, but if you want your email marketing campaign to succeed, you must have an easy way for customers to unsubscribe. If you make it difficult, you run the risk of the recipient marking your email as spam. That will make deliverability in the future even more difficult.

It’s actually mandated by law that your emails contain an unsubscribe link. The link should lead the recipient right to a page where they can immediately be removed from your list.

3. The Power of Personalization
When it makes sense for your specific email creative, we suggest taking steps to personalize them. It’s as simple as starting your email with “Hi [first_name]“. By doing this, you increase both your reading and click-thru rates. Why? By addressing them by their first name, your subscribers feel like they already have a relationship with you.

4. Subject Line in Under a Second
You have less than a second to catch your recipient’s attention with your email’s subject line. In this very short amount of time they will either choose to read, delete, or simply ignore your email. As mentioned before, you should avoid “spam words” and consider using the customer’s first name. We suggest you avoid using promotional phrases, ALL CAPS, or punctuation in your subject lines. Make sure your subject line is straightforward.

5. Above the Scroll
Whenever possible, place the more interesting content at the top of your email. Once your recipient starts reading the email, they’ll continue reading and even take action, but only if they find it interesting. Some popular email clients show a preview of an email in the inbox, even before a user opens it.

6. Don’t Over Sell
The goal of an email creative is to get buyers to take action by clicking on a button, signifying that they want to know more. It is only once they’ve clicked and are directed to your website that they can begin the buying process. Therefore, don’t overload them with product information or market data in the email. Give them just the right amount of info that, with a strong call to action, they’re intrigued enough to click.

By following these best practices, doing some of your own homework, and obeying the spam laws, you’ll be on your way to a winning email marketing campaign.

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What do you think? What else contributes to a successful email campaign?