| 1) Build trust | | | | preferences at the sign up process can better help |
| Subscriber trust is a huge factor in the overall success | | | | segment your subscribers and help make the content |
| of a campaign; here are a few points to note that | | | | relevant. |
| should be part of your email campaign checklist. | | | | Listen |
| First impressions | | | | Ask your subscribers for feedback and act on it. |
| They count. Make sure your business is seen in the | | | | 3) Is the time right |
| best light possible. | | | | Timing is important and can unsurprisingly have a big |
| - Have a well designed and professional Email | | | | impact on the success of your campaigns. |
| template | | | | Delivery Day and timing |
| - Test, test and test again; ensure the email renders | | | | It has been said that sending emails Tuesday through |
| well in the majority of email clients, including Microsoft | | | | Thursday mornings delivered the highest open and |
| Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Apple Mail, iPhone and in | | | | click-through rates. There is no perfect time for all your |
| Gmail. Just after sending your first campaign is not the | | | | subscribers, each will have their own, depending on the |
| best time to find out it looks like a dog's dinner. | | | | type of email, the demographic of your subscribers |
| - Spelling & grammar, one of my biggest weaknesses | | | | and a million of other variables. |
| I'm afraid. Go through your copy with a fine toothcomb | | | | Test a few different days and see if there is a big |
| or even better get someone else to have a read. | | | | difference in success rates say between sending on |
| Inconsistent spelling of your company name i.e. (6site, | | | | Sunday and Thursday mornings. |
| 6Site, 6 site) and spelling mistakes look unprofessional | | | | Frequency |
| and undermine all your hard work. | | | | A recent survey by the Chief Marketing Officer |
| - Hiring a Copywriter, although not compulsory, a good | | | | (CMO) Council suggests to make around 2-3 emails a |
| copywriter can have an enormous impact on a | | | | month to each subscriber. I think this seems like a fair |
| campaign. | | | | amount but I would suggest to only email people if you |
| Privacy Policy | | | | have something new to say otherwise wait, don't just |
| Having an up to date privacy policy on your website | | | | send them because its cheap to do so. |
| can put subscribers minds at rest to what you intend | | | | Action Based Emails |
| to do with their personal information. A link in the footer | | | | Send emails based on the actions of a subscriber |
| will suffice on sign up pages and email campaigns. | | | | - Welcome messages and series such as Getting |
| - This should include what details you collect and why. | | | | Started Guides and a week of free tips within 24 |
| - Any parties with whom you intend to share the | | | | hours of a signup |
| information with or otherwise. | | | | - Post purchase offer or thankyou |
| - How subscribers can update their information | | | | - Invite non-responsive subscribers to engage in other |
| - How subscribers are notified of any changes to the | | | | products or services, try a different approach. |
| privacy policy. | | | | Important dates |
| - Clearly show who the email is from | | | | Use general or subscriber specific dates to help |
| Include your postal address and a contact telephone | | | | increase the response; these are dates when |
| number in the footer. | | | | subscribers are more likely in market to buy. |
| - Don't mislead with subject lines | | | | - Holidays, such as Christmas- only 14 days shopping |
| Writing subject lines is an article in its own right, but the | | | | days remaining |
| most important thing in building trust is that the line | | | | - Reminders such as Valentine's day, Mothers day etc |
| should be about the content of the email and not a | | | | - Personal Birthday reminders or birthday wishes |
| trick to increase open rates. Keep them short and | | | | 4) Grow |
| relevant | | | | Keep growing your subscriber lists, more subscribers |
| - Make opt outs easy and fast | | | | ultimately means more sales. |
| Ensure a straight forward process for subscribers to | | | | Add a subscribe form to your site |
| stop unwanted emails, you want an uninterested user | | | | Add an email subscribe form in a prominent position on |
| to unsubscribe rather than send your emails to spam. | | | | your site to capture new subscribers. It's also worth |
| 2) Target the individual | | | | adding an opt-in checkbox to any existing forms. Make |
| One email is not right for all; tailoring the content to be | | | | sure your subscribe forms set expectations about the |
| as relevant as possible for your subscribers will | | | | information and frequency to expect. |
| increase your email campaign success. Here are a | | | | Go viral |
| few ideas of how to break your subscriber list down | | | | Add a send to a friend link on your emails and back up |
| to smaller targeted lists. | | | | with using blogs, social networking sites and other |
| What type of subscribers do you have? | | | | promotions to help increase support for the campaign. |
| Long standing customers, new customers or potentials; | | | | 5) Measure, Test and Learn |
| you would speak to each differently. Maybe you | | | | Measure the results |
| would welcome new customers, offer loyalty | | | | Compare campaign results, see how changes to |
| discounts to long standing customers and reassure | | | | delivery time, headlines, offers, button types etc |
| potential customers with testimonials and glorious | | | | effects the overall open rates and click through rates |
| praise from your customers. | | | | of your campaigns. Learning what works best for your |
| Interests - Allowing subscribers the option to state their | | | | subscribers is going to reap big rewards. |