SEO Clinic: Effective Email Marketing

Ok, again, we are really trying to keep on top of blogging but work has been pretty fluid the past year and it’s hard to dedicate an hour or so to writing about stuff. I thought I would look at the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ of email marketing. Some of you can’t get past the whole idea of email marketing and liken it to the mass of junk that comes through the front door, and in many cases you would be right, but there is a case for it and it can be an effective marketing / sales tool.

I don’t believe in spam and certainly believe that if you are going to contact a potential customer without permission you should give them a chance to opt out and your email should at least be well targeted, not sending Viagra emails to my nan (as an example).

Let’s assume we are all civilised people and the proposed email marketing campaign has been all ‘opted in’ and those getting the emails are expecting them or at least something in their inbox that could be slightly sales orientated.

So here are some Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to marketing your products and services through the mighty power of email:

Do…

• Use clear calls to action, you have a limited time to capture the readers imagination don’t waste it with waffle.
• Keep the important stuff at the beginning of the email.
• Test your email, it might be you have forgotten a link or missed a graphic make sure people (you know) get sent it and make sure it has the desired effect.
• Test out the effectiveness of different tag / subject lines, this can have a huge bearing on whether your email is even opened.
• Ask yourself key questions, what are you trying to achieve? Why would someone click the call to action, is the destination page (if you wish them to go through to your site) compelling enough?
   

 Don’t...

• Complicate matters, there is a tendency to want to tell the reader everything about you, your products, services, history, why you are a nice person, just make sure the email asks the right questions and has the desired effect.
• Underestimate the effectiveness of timing, make sure you ‘receivers’ are likely to be in to read your message, don’t send a holiday offer email to parents when it is half term.
• Pester people, once you have a list that works use it to your advantage but don’t go mad or you will soon have people unsubscribing, timing and patience are key.
• Assume you have the right recipe from the start, email marketing is about testing the water and finding out what works, this may have to be done for each demographic / audience you target.
• Forget that a good landing page makes all the difference, if someone has taken the time to click through to your site, don’t blow it at the final hurdle – ensure the landing page is ‘on-song’ and complements the information in the email.