Basic Structure for E-mail Marketing

– Essential elements for creating a successful email marketing campaign:

1. Make it clear.

• Be clear about who the e-mail is from. Ask yourself, would you be more likely to open something from offers@yourcompany.com or from offers@secreturl/or/somecompanythativeneverheardof.com? If you’re like most, then you’re more likely to open the e-mail from the company your heard of and done business with. If your customers have opted in then they’ll expect to hear from you, getting them to open the e-mail is the subject of another article.
• The subject should match the content of the message. Tell your customers the benefit of opening the message in the subject line. Use the subject line to pique their interest and tease the offer: One Week Only - 20% Off Orders of $25 or more or A Special Offer for Your Friends and Family. Make sure you pay it off quickly and clearly in the body copy. Then use the rest of the space tell them about your latest product, discovery of however else you like.

2. Ask for the sale.
You’re not going to sell anything if you don’t ask for the sale. A good rule of thumb is to make the ask at least twice. Once above the fold, and again later or in closing. If you’re talking about a specific product or offer, then you should link directly to the product page not just to the home page.

3. Make it easy to subscribe and unsubscribe
Making it easy to subscribe and unsubscribe will benefit you more in the long run than it will hinder you. Firstly, it reduces the likelihood that you’ll upset a customer (and risk losing for life) who can’t easily opt-out. And you’ll benefit from additional subscriptions gathered when your message is forwarded.

4. Provide choices.
Let your customer decide how often and what type of information to receive. If you only send offer a periodic e-mail consider, repurposing the content on your website to create a newsletter. Then allow your customer to select whether they want offers, the newsletter or both.

5. Test various formats and offers.
Not everyone you send communicate with will react to the same message in the same way. A percentage of your customers will react to Free offers another percentage will respond better to 2 for 1 or 20% off. Which one works best? Testing various messages allows you to specifically tailor your message to your audience or find the single message that resonates best.