There
are some very simple but important techniques to help
open rates. People often forget about the ‘From’
address, subject line and other attributes until the last
few minutes before it has to be sent. This feature looks
at how tweaking a few areas can help you improve your
email marketing effectiveness.
The
‘From’ Address
Much is written about the subject line being the most
important factor in getting your email campaigns opened.
The ‘From’ field though is the first thing
people see and therefore as important as the subject line.
This
can be set to anything you want and not just a person’s
name. Beware however as getting it wrong can cause you
to look like Spam.
Our
general advice is listed below:
Rented
lists
Use the name of the list supplier where appropriate. For
example if the list is from a magazines readership than
place the name of the magazine in the ‘from’
field. Remember these people won’t know who you
are but they will know and trust the magazine name
House lists
Recipients are expecting your email so use something like
the name of your MD (when your customers know who your
MD is) or something like offers@yourdomain.com that is
easily identifiable as from your company to whom they
wish to receive information from.
However
if you find open rates are falling then try changing the
address. By keeping the address the same recipients will
think that it is the same email again and again giving
them no incentive to open it.
Some
people use campaign specific addresses that inspire intrigue.
Our advice is be careful – this is the exact technique
spammers use and recipients will treat your email in the
same way.
Subject
lines
Our
general guidelines are:
Remember
the recipient is scanning through the inbox to see what
they can delete as much as open so think about how you
can make the subject line as relevant as possible to them.
SPAM
filters
The
best way to avoid SPAM filters is to think about SPAM
you receive and the sort of techniques they use.
Avoid
things like
Although
these might be relevant to your product such as a special
giveaway or a new credit card you are launching, filters
are designed to weed these out.
Instead
think about new ways of phrasing these such as removing
the exclamation mark or using the term “eighteen
years old”.
Timing
The
time of sending the email is particularly important with
B2B emails more than consumer.
Here
are our suggestions for optimum response:
B2B
– Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10am or 3pm
There is also a theory that Friday afternoon is becoming
a good time, as people tend to spend this clearing their
inbox. Avoid Mondays where possible.
B2C
- Consumers obviously have more time to check their email
at evenings and weekends. The importance of when it arrives
is not as great.
Test
your campaigns!
All the rules above are rough guides. Your target customers
however are unique to you and will respond to different
things.
The
best way to find out what works for your target market
is to test a sample with varying factors such as subject
lines.
Software
such as Maxemail makes this easy for you. Simply decide
what number or percentage you would like to include in
each sample and Maxemail will randomly select the sample.
You can repeat this process as many times as you like
and Maxemail will remember which email addresses have
already been sent the campaign. The detailed tracking
reports will then give you guidance on what areas worked
best in each sample.
Summary
Most people will get so involved in the design of the
main body of the email that these little tweaks will get
forgotten. Our advice is when developing your email campaign
you build in specific time at the start to first of all
come up with a selection of from addresses and subject
lines that could appeal and then time at the end of the
design process to test your email with the different variants.
If
you would like help with any of these matters when designing
your campaign feel free to call us for advice on 01327 350921.
