Email Marketing

Tips on writing a good html email marketing piece
By Rick Waters, Webcast 1, Inc.

Sending out an html email piece is a tremendous way to generate Traffic within a short period of time. The html email needs to have an appealing design that is inviting and easy to read. The graphic design should be done by a designer with a good marketing
sense and the copy must be done by someone who has a grasp of and experience in direct mail marketing.

The piece itself should engender a positive first impression about your company and will build and strengthen your brand identity and loyalty.

The goals are:

1. To generate as high an ‘open-rate’ for the email creative as possible (via a good subject heading - also 'from lines' can have a huge affect on open rates as well). Here is a good piece on writing good subject lines: RE: Email Subject Lines That Work?



2. To increase the percentage of opt-in emails getting through spam filters



3. To generate as many click thrus to the landing page as possible.

What worked for us recently was the 'but wait, there's more' principal that Ronco made famous. We are 'giving away' Zig Ziglar's long awaited new CD / DVD combo at $29.00 off retail to our target audience of Zig Ziglar email list subscribers.

The target market was “YOU, a SPECIAL email subscriber (special offer to list subscribers only)” and the offer was: if you “act before May 15, you receive one of the following 2 bestsellers FREE - just select the one you want and IN ADDITION to that we'll even have Zig PERSONALLY sign your copy of the book if you are one of the first 100 to order. So why wait, order right now.”

• Remember, people don't like to read so don't make them squint or give them too much information. You have to balance that with the fact that you still need your copy to provide enough information to motivate a response....it's a fine line.
• In addition, make sure the piece has at least one 'interactive' element to entice people to click on it.
• Visually, you want to keep the lettering BIG, going smaller as you go down the page. Big Text (main point) first, Secondary point text a little smaller, less important point text a bit smaller etc.
• Keep the critical info 'above the fold' so that people who don't know how to scroll can get the key information.
• Try to make all the graphics link to the landing page - even if they don't click on your calls to action they can still move to landing page.

It seems to me that the survival of an email piece from beginning to end is a lot like the life cycle of a sea turtle, though hopefully with better odds for survival!

If you’d like professional help in preparing your html email piece, then contact us at 561.392.2202 or click here for a free quote.