Email Checklist

There are some things that you should check before sending out an email.

Below is the checklist for your email marketing campaigns. It can  be very useful to you.

1. Check the Objective of email, what message are you trying to communicate? Who is your target audience? What action do you want the recipient to take?
2. Check the List. Are you sending the campaign to the proper list? And do you have permission to send emails to the people on your list?
3. Have you inserted the proper sender name that the recipient will identify? Means is the subject profit-oriented instead of “selling”?
4. Does your campaign personalized with the recipient’s name?
5. Have you inserted the proper subject and starting content properly that can attract user to open and read it?
6. Have you make it clear what you want to say and what you want him to do?
7. Does the email include benefit-oriented information that is also appealing?     
8. Does your email contains both balance of text and image instead of containing large heavy image only.?
9. Have you designed or formatted your email properly?
10. Did you check the copy one last time for spelling mistakes?
11. Did you check the spam score of your email?
12. Does your mail contain balanced length or readable length?
13. Does all the links in your email are working properly?
14. Are all the graphics loading and do they load quickly?
15. Are all the images linked?
16. Are you using the right email template for the campaign?
17. Did you remember to create a plain-text version of the email?
18. Have you protect your content with a copyright notice?
19. Do you have a working unsubscribe link?

Opt-In Email Marketing 

As described in earlier post of Spam free, how you can protect your email by Spam filters.Here I have explained the Opt-In method which is the best solution to our work around  so our email should not be treated as a Spam.

There are different ways to get your email marketing subscribers list. A much better method is opt-in email marketing. Contrary to spam it is permission based, which means the addresses in the list are given by people who have opted or elected to receive emails from you. Thus this list confirms the user that user has chosen to get emails from you. So they are actually expecting your email so there is no chance of being called a Spam .This way of marketing is chosen by many businesses and it really works. 

In detail we can say. Email marketing is nothing else but mailing lists in the end. The mailing list of an opt-in marketing campaign starts empty. The only way for an email address to get onto the list is by its owner explicitly requesting it.

Opt-in method is targeted though. When you send a message to a list of email addresses, you know they are interested in your offer. That's why they've subscribed in the first place.

There are two choices for your email campaigns, one is single opt-in list and the other one is double opt-in list. Among these which one should be used is depends on you and the responder service being used in your business. Take a look on both, how they work and how they differ from each other.

With single opt-in, a person gives you their address only once and they are included in your email marketing list. This option increases the chance of people forgetting they signed up or changing their minds about wanting to be on your list. With the double opt-in, which is also called confirmation opt-in, a person gives you their address and they get an automated response sent from your email marketing responder service. In this first contact email, the receiver is requested to go to a particular URL to confirm that they really want to be included in your email marketing list. Only if they click on the URL will they be included in your list. In other words,it is very secure as it includes more than one time confirmation from user for receiving emails from you.

Spam laws specifically indicate how an email list can be built. Also, they mandate that email list subscribers must be able to unsubscribe from any future mailings through the use of unsubscribe links. In order to stay in compliance with these spam laws and still be effective with your email campaigns, follow this tip:

Make your email list "double opt-in." A customer must have at least two chances to confirm before they're officially on your list. Normally, a double opt-in looks like this. A customer gives their email address at a website. Before they join the list, they have to click on a confirmation link on the first email sent by the company.

Email Designing Guidelines

Email Designing can be done differently from the usual web designing.
Make sure to follow below tips for email designing.

1) Make Use of Tables Instead of Divs. Table layout is more basic and easy layout as we can nest them to build the more convincing Layout and we can manage deeper levels with it. These will be the building blocks of your email.

2) Make proper use of CSS. Try to avoid use of CSS instead use text formatting inline within the HTML. If you cannot avoid using CSS then use Inline CSS Instead of Putting CSS in the Head Section. Well you can put CSS declaration in the <head> section but some ISPs strip that straight out. So you should go with the Inline CSS declaration.

3) Avoid use of Scripting. Do not use any kind of scripting such as JavaScript as most email clients will register JavaScript as a virus. While JavaScript is frequently used on web sites, it should not be included in your email marketing campaigns.Because all major email clients will strip out the JavaScript anyway, it’s just a waste of your time to develop an email that requires JavaScript to function. It may also hurt your deliverability and land you in the spam folder.

4) Make sure to use proper HTML tag. Generally ‘b’ tag is used for bolding, but instead of using this tag try ‘Strong’ tag. Because ‘b’ tag is mostly used by spammers and many filters have begun to take notice.
Similarly do not use TBODY tags in your code. Some of the ISPs treat this tag as a spammer notification.

5) Use correct way to add Attachments in your email. Use Proper and correct way to add attachments in your email. Do not send the attachment directly instead of this host that file on the web and link to it. Direct attachments can often trigger spam filters so there are more chances that you’re reach to inbox with a link. You can also have whole track of viewers who views that file.

Also if you want to get videos into your email then the better way is to use screen shots that link to the actual content hosted on your site.

Email Marketing Terms

Email
The transmission of computer-based messages over telecommunication technology.

Email Marketing
The promotion of products or services via Email.

Opt-in email
Email that is explicitly requested by the recipient.

Campaign
A coordinated set of individual email marketing messages delivered at intervals and with an overall objective in mind.

Spam
Unwanted email usually sent without the recipient's permission.

Privacy
The quality or condition of being free from unsanctioned intrusion. Communications need to reassure the prospect through clear, accessible and enforced assurances so he/she can feel comfortable about providing personal information and transacting business.

Mailing list
A group of email addresses to which specific mailings are sent.

Recipient
The end user who requested the email from the sender, usually identified by the email address in the ‘To’ line.

Sender
The person or organization responsible for transmitting the email, usually identified by the email address in the ‘From’ line.

Subject Line
The title of the email communication. This is the first (and hopefully not last) element of the communication recipients will see when they access their email. It has to grab attention and be credible or the email will not get opened.
 
Targeting
Selecting a portion of the mailing list with similar demographic values to send messages relevant to those demographics.

 

Email Marketing Advantages

Email marketing is very suitable for small businesses for a number of reasons. Email campaigns are economical and can compliment the business model of almost every small organization. Most small businesses are able to provide quality service as compared to larger corporations. Due to the exceptional quality of work, people tend to view the work of small businesses as genuine, sincere and trustworthy and are usually more willing to give their email addresses to such vendors.Here are some good reasons for small businesses to leverage email marketing:

• It is economical. Sending an email does not cost anything, especially when compared to the cost of printing and posting material. Sending emails is an inexpensive way of marketing business products and services. Also, emails are created in the form of blank templates. A user simply needs to populate the template to use it. Once the initial cost has been covered, using email involves minimum expenses.Email marketing allows small businesses to manage their campaigns successfully without hiring new employees or increasing the workload of existing staff. This way, small businesses save on money and time.

• It can be used to provide important data. Email marketing allows small businesses to target the right audiences. Also, it provides special tools to analyze and accurately measure responses to the email campaign.

•  It is quick. Email marketing is one the quickest forms of communication. It enables you to provide customers with immediate information and also allows instant access to their replies and queries.

• It is very convenient. Email marketing allows convenient placement of links to important products and services; placing links within your emails in a location most likely to grab the reader’s attention is an easy way to boost revenues.Email marketing makes it is possible to update email lists quickly. Using emails also enables comments, queries and feedback to be updated quickly, allowing easy management of the inbox! Also, email campaigns contain links to subscribe and unsubscribe, which makes it convenient to separate interested subscribers from the disinterested ones.

With all these great advantages, it is quite clear that email marketing campaigns are the future of small businesses. Don’t miss out on its benefits; go ahead and create an email marketing campaign right away!

Spam free Marketing

Email Marketing is probably the best and definitely the cheapest way to build a relationship with your customers. Email marketing is not just an advertising of your product through emails on a weekly or monthly basis. Email marketing indeed works, because internet business owners are able to market directly to their customers as well as build a relationship with them.But still one big fear of being called a spammer can prevent the success of email marketing.

Spam is treated as unwanted content and is very unethical way of internet marketing. Simply stated, it means sending promotional email messages to people who didn't ask that. If you try to spam, you may be banned by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and never be able to send messages from your email account again. That's strong reason why you shouldn't spam.

Spam filters exist to stop unnecessary content from reaching our inboxes, but what if your convincing email campaign is being filtered as spam? What happens if your email campaigns are treated as junked before recipients ever see them. We also think why this happens and what can be done about it. So here I’d discussed some points which explain the spam filtering rules .We can manage healthy email marketing campaigns by understanding some common factors that can influence the spam rating of your campaign.

Very firstly, understand the process. The most common method for filtering spam is the points system. Spam filters have a list of elements that they consider to be key spam criteria. Each of these elements present in your email will earn it a certain number of points. Earn enough points (the limit varies across servers) and your message will be filtered as spam.

Obviously More classy filters uses some different analysis techniques. However applying the same basic rules will always help.

• Make Sure to have equal balance of Text and Image in your email. Use balanced email content. Email that contains too heavy image is the most common reason of campaigns going to spam. This can be a cause of problem if your campaign is big image and not having any text or hardly have it. So Avoid. big images and make balance of two i.e. Image and Text.

• Avoid words that trigger Spam Filters. Some words and phrases increases your email Spam points. There are set of words such as ‘Free’,’ Earn Extra Income’ or many others can cause the problem even when they are used sensibly. Similarly showing extra enthusiasm is also a problem like including so many exclamation marks and Quotation marks also increase your spam points.

• Use Small and Plain text in Subject line. Subject line content can earn the Spam points. Hot words as described above can be problematic here as well. Also Big subject lines can get the attention of spam filters.

• Do proper content formatting. Don’t express over enthusiasm when you format the text in your email. Lot of bold letters and much colorful text in your email can increase your spam points. Also avoid the Capital letters, long text in your content.When it comes to the point of Email content and formatting, be careful that your email should not contain too many links. Large number of links in your email can earn the spam points. If it is necessary to add more links then try some other substitute of it.

• Avoid poor HTML coding .If your HTML is poorly coded then spam filters may treat your email as a spam. So if you are not so good at HTML designing then higher someone else who can do this job perfectly. Spammers are notoriously bad coders. If your HTML is sloppy then spam filters may assume that your campaign is spam. This could also be the case if you’ve used MS FrontPage or Word to code your design, so if your HTML skills are not so hot then why not use our Campaign Designer to create your emails? No coding knowledge is needed and you can still produce some cracking results.

• When you come to format the text in your email, don’t go too crazy. Using a lot of bold or brightly colored text can earn your campaign some spam points. Making your text very big or typing all in capitals is also not recommended.

Lastly, test your campaign before sending and also preview it. Make sure to test all these points for your email campaign.

Tips & Secrets

If you're just starting to use email marketing or you've been using it for a while now, you know that two of the biggest questions you'll need to answer is how often you'll send and when you'll send. Believe it or not, these two things matter.

• Test your emails before you send them to a whole list .Check your grammar, read over your copy before sending, and try to review the email before it’s sent out. 

• Keep testing and evolving for better improvement. 

• Avoid Mistyped Addresses by Requiring Retyping. Many times, a significant number of people interested in getting on your mailing list may not arrive there because they mistype their email address in the sign-up form.

• Don't "Fix" Mistyped Email Addresses. When people sign up for your newsletter via a Web site form instead of via email, chances are you cannot reach a good number of those who want to sign up for your newsletter because they mistype their email address as they opt in. Don't "Fix" Mistyped Email Addresses. Among the bouncing addresses, you may see obvious errors like "@yahoo.cmo" or "@rediff..com". As tempting as it may be, do not make any attempt to fix these addresses. 

•  Avoid Email Marketing During the Holidays. During the holidays, people tend to be away from their computers and not check their email regularly. 

• Make subscribe and unsubscribe process simple. Don’t make it more complex so people need to work hard for these processes.

• Don't rely on what has worked in the past; constantly strive for improvement.

• Don't assume something works or what has worked in the past; constantly attempt for the best.

• Send a simple plain text email that asks your subscribers for feedback. Also enroll your most active subscribers to spread the word. Make some promotional and bonus offers for this subscribers.  

•  Avoid poor email coding i.e. avoid horizontally scrolling, if possible then don’t use  CSS in your HTML,Avoid Java scripts ,Videos and large Attachments in your email.try to send one email consisting of one huge image.

• Make your emails more public and track the results.

Do's & Don'ts

Here are some things you should do for your email. 

• Test and analyze your email.
• Follow Subject line rules and run tests for it.
• Know you why your end user should sign up for your e-mails
• Use designers for better campaign designing.
• Use some incentive policies
• Build up the track of what people do and don’t do.
• Use social media to drive up open rates
• Understand and remember Image blocking rules
• Remember to be timely.

Here are some points that you should avoid for your email.

• Don't overmail  and also don’t undermail your list
• Don't try to say too much with a single e-mail
• Don’t ask again and again the non responding users.
• Don't ignore your reports.
• Don't overcomplicate your e-mail creative
• Don't make subscribing – or unsubscribing – too complicated
• Don't say everything in the subject line
• Don’t use $$$ Signs in Email Marketing Campaigns. A lot of spam contains "$$$" somewhere in the subject or the body. That's why you should avoid it in your email marketing campaigns.
• Don’t use too many email ids for email marketing. Stick with one from email address and ask subscribers to add that address to their white list.

Guidelines for an Effective Email Campaign

An email campaign is a series of emails used to promote your business, products or services. While the purpose of an email campaign can vary from company to company or even from one campaign to another, there are some common features that can make email campaigns as effective as possible.

• Set a Goal. Pick a goal for your email campaign, which is the focus of each email written. For example, if the campaign is to launch a new product, each email in the campaign should focus of the product launch.

• Write a one-sentence introduction. Each email should start with an explanation of  what the rest of the message contains. This is usually one to two sentences and should be intriguing enough that it convinces readers to continue.

• Be clear and Approachable. Be very clear and approachable in your Campaign. Your customer should have the impression that he is dealing with the best. Don’t be over promising or don’t use extra ordinary phrases, use simple language. If you are not too good to write then ask someone else who can do better.

• Write email content wisely. Most of the people are not interested to read long and long email. They read few sentences and then decide whether or not to continue. So avoid huge paragraphs and long content .Write short and meaningful content on the main point else you have the more chances of deleting the email and it kills the sale.

• Make your email more Personalize. Adding a person's name into an email increases email open rates. Use some merge software, to generate personalized mass emails that can include person's name that should be relevant to your vision. Your message should convince that it is not a spam message instead it should say that I got to you because I know you and I think this specific offer meets your needs. Avoid using generic greetings such as "Dear Friends."

• Include an opt-out (unsubscribe) function in your email, even if that is just an email address where people can send a message to unsubscribe.

• It should have trustworthy and familiar preview. Most of the people judge if an email is trustworthy by previewing it, without opening it. They take this decision based on the sender's email address and email subject line. Most of them make the decision to click on the "report spam" or "junk" button using the subject line. To avoid this problems, work on basic fields of email i.e. sender’s name and Subject line. Make sure, your sender name should not be hidden it should be visible and easily     recognized. Make it    clear that the email is coming from someone your costumer knows or cares about, don’t make it a mystery. It’s very necessary to approach your customer. Avoid sending marketing emails from junk-looking email addresses.Send your marketing emails from an email address that creates the trustworthy impression. Knowing and trusting the sender is the primary reason for opening an email.
  
  
  Avoid subject lines that contain words that are popular on spam messages, such as "free" or "money".   Make the subject line appealing to the recipient so they’ll open the email .Use the subject line to sum up the email content. The subject line should describe the email purpose. Avoid long Subject lines make it short and meaningful. Keep your subject line to 50 characters or less. Avoid capital letters, promotional texts or exclamation marks in Subject line.
  
  Make the email content significant and relevant to the recipients. Avoid including images, scripts or any other content that is supposed to be downloaded from the web, when the email is rendered on screen.

• Your marketing emails should be clearly readable. Avoid large images in email and if possible then send your marketing emails as plain text. It will be smaller in size and readable on any email platform. If it needs to include images in your email content, make sure your email text content makes sense for readers, even if the images are not displayed. Avoid inserting email images that are supposed to be downloaded from the web, as they are automatically blocked by most email client software programs.

• Your email or newsletter must be the perfect balance of text, white space, images and links. Keep things short. Keep the message consistent from title throughout the email body; if you overwhelm customers with too much or too varied information, they are liable to just delete the whole thing and you've lost a golden opportunity.

• Collect Useful data only. Most of the email marketers are collecting personal data that makes no use for them. It has no sense to collect huge personal data from users at the time of sign up and then not using it. Collecting such a big data is really a barrier to getting people to sign up for your email list. So  make sure if you are collecting  data then actually put it to use.

• Add information about your company. Be sure that, in a sidebar or at the bottom of the email, you include this information. This may be a two- to three-sentence description of you or the business. It should contain contact information, such as a physical or mailing address, phone number, website address and email.

• Break up the copy with visual elements. Choose ways to break up the body copy of the email so that it doesn't look like one big mass of text. Using one or two different font styles, font colors, bold or italicized copy are a few options. Pictures and graphics are also helpful.

• Your email marketing strategy as a whole must be an integrate part of the overall marketing strategy. Similarly, the design (and the content) of your newsletter or email marketing campaign should reflect your corporate design.

Guidelines for an Effective Email Subject

Email subject lines are key in business emails, email marketing, and personal emails. When you write effective, relevant subject lines, people are more likely to open your email and receive the message you intend for them. Here are some tips for writing effective subject lines.

• Know your audience. Your subject line needs to appeal to your audience. It must contain information that will motivate the reader to open the email and take action.

• Show the reader what's in it for him or her. Make appropriate promises. If you overpromise, you may get the reader to open the email, but it can create backlash when the promises are not fulfilled.

• Give an overview of the email. The subject line should give the reader a preview of what the email contains.

• Put it short. Your subject line needs to contain 10 words or less. If it is longer, it takes too long to read and can get cut off.

How to make it succeed

If you're just starting to use email marketing or you've been using it for a while now, you know that two of the biggest questions you'll need to answer is how often you'll send and when you'll send. Believe it or not, these two things matter.

One excellent way of staying in touch with your contacts and keeping your email marketing activities in top gear is by sending newsletters. These newsletter can contain all sorts of information,

The main thing which needs to realize, that for any business we need to understand our consumer’s Needs, wants and their interests. By keeping this truth in mind we should write the content more convincing and more understandable.

Communicating via email with your customer base is your opportunity to make a personal connection with your customers. If they sign up for your newsletters or announcements, they want to hear what's happening in your business, and this is your chance to say something important.  So we should keep in mind some below rules when developing email marketing content:  

• Target your message to the right audience. Always have a clear vision about what you are selling and to whom you are selling it. Remember: Even the most well-crafted pitch is worthless if it's delivered to someone who doesn't want it . 

• Know your customers. Taking the time to research your customers gives you the information you need to market to them properly. If they are a sporty bunch, elegant writing misses the point. If they are older professionals, you should address them differently than you would address teenagers. If you feel that your data is lacking, send out surveys and assess your customer base. 

• Be Unique. Don’t use same message styles, same strategy, and same content. If all these things are repetitive then what is the value of doing business with you rather than others. If your email sounds and acts the same as of others then there is no point to convince the customer. So be unique in market. Make your unique impression, don’t say the same things that others will say. Don’t communicate the same message as your competitors Always follow unique strategy in your emails.
• Try to be personal. Businesses which use email marketing effectively know that they need to create a personal connection to establish a sense of community and an attachment to their companies. Communicate in a conversational tone and make the customer feel like a person, not just a subscriber. Invite customers to share their stories with you and feature their entries in future editions. 
• Don’t be Overpromising. You should know your base and limits so be very careful to avoid overpromising strategy to reach the more people. You should go accordingly market rules, current situation and your budget. Remember never neglect the influencers. So don’t be over in any aspect neither in promising nor in targeting.
• Maximize frequency within the range of budget. When it comes about marketing then always go with your budget and within the budget make the frequency maximize i.e. don’t  reach to all people and you may convince 20% of them instead you reach 20% and convince them all. This is the main strategy and try to make your message more clear and Sharp.

Email Marketing  

Advertising is a heart of the successful business. There are many ways of advertising, but nowadays one of the most popular and emerging advertising technique is ‘Email Marketing’. It’s the easy, effective, and affordable ways to keep achieve the targeted audience! Marketing departments are tightly managing their budgets more than ever and need to implement a multi-channel strategy that will engage their audience at the right place and time. But we have found that email marketing is a vital component to the success of these campaigns.

  

Throughout the years, many types of promotional methods have caught the public fancy. Television commercials. Radio ads. Direct marketing. Now that the Internet has taken over the game, from banner ads to social network pages, the one constant is that email marketing has become the most affordable, effective and targeted promotional tool out there.

Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people by use of electronic mail. Though it is more commonly thought of as using email to send ads, request business, any email communication that is meant to build loyalty, trust or brand awareness qualifies.

By the above definition, any email communication sent on behalf of a business or organization qualifies as email marketing – even if it only contains text. 

Those who are wondering about the benefits of email marketing in today's ever-changing marketing world will find the answers below.

Why It Works    

Email is cheap; thus, it may be one of the most effective marketing strategies available.

Here the main advantage is not cost. Email is simply the most effective way to stay in touch with most of your customers. Still business owners may need to be convinced that email marketing still works and that it's an option that they should implement. Market your email solutions service directly to business owners.                                        

Email is the new way of communicating and it is here to stay. Majority of the audience are more comfortable in using email which leads to an increase in readership. Thus you are able to reach a large number of prospective clients and turn them into customers. Your email is organized and has an appearance that is befitting a company or organization that is professional. So it results in ‘Better Business Communication ‘

Email marketing works for a variety of reasons...

• It allows you to stay connected and get in touch with past and present audience. You can make your presence known to them by letting them know your company cares.

• It is Very Cost Effective , Email Marketing is cheaper than traditional mail because there is no postage to buy.

• Promotion campaign for new products will cost less. You won't be spending for posters and flyers. It results in great Money Savings!

• Email newsletters are much cheaper than the printed ones. No need to make copies manually and sending it thru mail. Expenses for papers and postages are eliminated. 

•  It builds relationships, loyalty and trust .Which are the most required pillars for the healthy business. 

• It is also Environmentally Friendly - There is no paper to print and ink is not involved in your communications.

• In terms of space, it is limitless. You can have as much section as you can and use as many pages as you can.

Implementation Solutions

• Identify your prospects. Read marketing and advertising magazines . Read reports and white papers regularly. Note habits of your prospects. Create a profile for your ideal clients. Describe who they are, their income, the industries they work in and the activities they enjoy the most.

• Create a marketing message that will resonate with your ideal customers. Highlight the impact of email marketing solutions and how it can help them achieve their goals. Keep it short and pointed such as "Reach millions by email inexpensively.

• Buy a leads list from a reputable lead generation company. Get referrals from colleagues. Search for list sellers who may have contact information for small business owners. Hire a copywriter to write a strong direct mail letter. Send your letter to your prospects

• Show your product in action. Create a weekly email newsletter. Create banner ads and  sign up with an affiliate to distribute your ads. Collect emails. Send your direct mail prospects and the prospects from your banner ads your weekly email newsletter.

• Tell people how to use email marketing effectively. Post the clips on video sites like Youtube and Revver.

• Condense your marketing message into a 30 second ad promo. Record it in an audio format. Submit it to the local radio stations that cater to your target market, such as a talk radio show with a business news segment.