Email marketing has gotten harder, there’s no question about that. Yes, I agree that your audience is being bombarded with ads day and night and that makes it much more difficult to cut through the clutter. However, you just need to give them an even bigger reason to click on your email. The responsibility is on YOU as the marketer to make the email attractive.
Need a head start? Here are a few tips to get your email noticed straight from my latest white paper: “Email Marketing in an Anti-Spam World.”
1. Have a strong subject line
The subject line may be the most important detail in your entire newsletter. We’ve found our most effective subject lines were the ones that were clear and specific. Here are a couple of our most popular newsletters’ subject lines:
- Mistakes You’re Making on LinkedIn
- Dealing with the Competition: How to Set Yourself Apart
- 3 Ways to Jumpstart the Productivity of your Meetings
2. Lead off with an eye-catching image
Always have an interesting image at the very top of the header to catch the attention of your readers. We like to use stock photos from Fotolia, though any stock image site works well. We personally prefer images with a lot of colour as opposed to a lot of text.
Here are two newsletter photos we’ve used before in the past.
The one on the left is very generic, with just words and related terms written on a chalkboard. Unless the email topic was specifically about the definition of copyright law (or a quick rundown of the terms), the photo will not be a good fit. The photo on the right is a lot more specialized. We can use this to talk about the importance of Internet security, a description of different phishing techniques, or even ways to make a strong password. Try to find images like the one on the right that are have visual symbols (like the fishing hooks and background characters) to make a strong impact.
3. Keep it short, but relevant
A good length for newsletters is roughly 150-300 words. It may be tempting to go into more detail about a subject, but newsletters are only supposed to give users a little taste. Feel free to link to blog posts, e-books, or any of your other resources through your content to both increase the value of the newsletter and drive traffic back to your website.
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