Bomber email marketing pt1

It's not fancy, but email works. Relationship, Viral, Direct Response, Cross-Channel etc, etc...email is multi-talented and super effective.

But remember, email relationships are built on value and trust, and poor execution can hurt your brand. So revisiting first principles is good insurance, and with that in mind, here's part 1 of my guide to bomber email marketing.

Be regular
Frequency is a balancing act between building mindshare and engagement and not pissing people off. Bi-weekly or monthly generally work best, but whichever you choose, consistency is the key.

Be on time
Good scheduling boosts open rates, and generally, these work well:

B2B - Weekdays Tue - Thurs Around 9:30am OR 1:30pm

B2C - Weekdays & weekends Tues - Fri @ 5pm - 8pm OR Fri evening - Sun afternoon

Deliver value
In this relationship email recipients have all the power, and winning them over means trading something of value - promotions, research, breaking news, good content, free stuff - whatever works.

Don't be a stranger
The #1 factor in recipients' decision to open email is whether the 'From' name is familiar to them. Use either your company name or the name of a person at your company - and once you choose one, keep it consistent.

Wrap it nicely
Create a subject line that a) will capture the interest of the recipient, b) won't trigger the spam filter and c) has consistent formatting.

• Between 20 and 50 characters - more and it might not display properly 
• Follow deliverability rules (see 'Reach your destination' below)
• Use 2 components (consistent part + variable part) - readers can easily recognise your email when it arrives, and get a taste of its content (Wotif do this well)

Get personal
Personalisation is straightforward using email marketing tools and web services, and will massively boost conversion:

• Segment your list and deliver tailored messaging to each group
• Use recipients' names with mail-merge fields (e.g. 'Dear [fname]')

Reach your destination
Around 70% - 80% of all email is classified as spam, and dodging spam filters is sometimes tricky. The science of deliverability can't be covered here, but this is a good start:

1. Write smart copy - rules of thumb are:

• Avoid using capitals and punctuation marks (quotations, dollar signs, exclamation marks etc) in your subject line 
• Avoid marketing hype or 'trigger words' in the body of emails ('free', 'earn money', 'act now', 'you're a winner' etc)
• Avoid offensive or contentious content ('bombs', 'guns' etc)

2. Get added to recipients' address books - Add a short explanatory message to the top of your emails:

3. Check out anti-spamming legislation - ADMA has a code of practice, but take-home points are:

• Don't use misleading header of subject information 
• Use a functioning return email address 
• Don't use generic email addresses like 'admin@' and 'info@'
• Add a clear 'Unsubscribe' link and remove all unsubscribe requests

Don't forget plain text
Include both a plain text and an HTML version of your newsletter. If you don’t, around 5% of your recipients will see a message with nothing in it. Email marketing tools (like MailChimp) make this easy.

Feed your list
Building a quality list of subscribers, prospects and customers is critical.

• We're all marketers here, so get creative in how you harvest contacts - but do it fair and square
• Collect the information you need to segment your list i.e. position, industry etc 

Respect yourself
If you value your company, brand and your own reputation, don’t spam - its bad news:

• Avoid unsolicited mail at all costs - it should always be opt-in
• Stay on topic - only deliver content the recipient signed up for 
• Add a permission reminder to the footer (below) - it's polite to explain to people why they're on your list / why you've contacted them 

• Give people choices wherever you can in how often they're contacted, and what for