Three tips for delivering best-in-class email campaigns

As the direct marketing industry increases its use of email marketing within ther integrated campaigns, marketers should heed the following advice in order to deliver powerful campaigns.

1. Use compelling subject lines.

An email subject line that is clear and compelling gives your email better visibility in a crowded inbox. Incite your recipients to open your message with a call to action in the subject line. Just be sure you don't use words like “free,” “limited time offer,” or “amazing” in your subject line. These are red flags for spam and will cause your unopened email to go directly into the trash folder.

2. Campaigns are more compelling when graphics visually promote messages.

A good email service will include tools that allow you to search, resize, crop and rotate photos and images without leaving your email. The tool should also allow you to select, preview, and purchase royalty-free images if what you have isn't on-hand. Don't forget to include a clickable call to action with your image so you can see how your readers respond to each graphic. Data about who clicks on a photo's hyperlink will give direction to future interactions. If the report shows traffic, use it in a future email. Also include a text click-through for recipients who may have turned off the graphic display option. A good rule of thumb to prevent image overload is have at least 70% of your message be in text format and 30% or less in image format.

3. Be mobile-friendly.

The adoption and usage of smart phones is changing the way we interact with email marketing. The use of smart phone is increasing hugley month on month. While most smart phones do a fairly good job displaying emails, marketers can look into adding an online/mobile version link at the very top of the email because Web browsers are generally more capable of showing HTML content than email clients. Subject lines should be front-loaded because smartphones only display four to six words in the subject line and a preview of the first few words in the email. Remember to test your emails on a smart phone.

To see how CFL can aid you in implementing HTML email campaigns as part of an integrated marketing approach - give us a call on 01225 782669 or log onto www.cflmarketing.co.uk