E-mail Marketing: Three Keys to Getting Your E-mails Opened and Read
In a session I led on May 21 during the ACCM Conference in Boston on building an e-mail program, I emphasized the basics of e-mail. Below are three key takeways.
1. Can your readers really see your message? A quick audit I did showed that catalogers have fabulous e-mails. But the sad news is that many readers won’t be able to see them. Too many catalogers aren’t using the appropriate creative and design techniques.
Many e-mails consist of a series of images. With many ISPs using image-blocking for e-mails that have any problems (authentication, too many bounces, too many spam complaints, content filters). So a perfectly craft e-mail winds up looking like a series of the dreaded red “x’s.”
2. Establishing an appropriate “from” line at the outset of your program is really important. This is your chance at branding and the number 1 factor as to whether your e-mail will be read
3. Yes, you’ve heard it before, but subject lines are important. They are the Number 2 factor in getting your e-mails opened. And the difference in subsequent sales can be tremendous.
Reggie Brady is president of Norwalk, Conn.-based Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, an e-mail marketing consulting firm. You can reach her at reginabrady@worldnet.att.net .
