Alright, you read our last blog about why your company needs an email list, and you are eager to start sending those newsletters out! Even though it has seen a decline in recent years, email marketing is awesome for your business if you are executing it correctly but doing that is easier said than done.
Email marketing can be very tricky. You want to make sure that you are getting your message across, but not being overly annoying or get caught up in spam.
Check out these best practices to make sure you are getting the most out of your email marketing.
Get permission. Don’t add someone to your email list just because you think that they might be interested in what you have to offer. Not only is it not best practice, but it is also Illegal. If you think you know someone who would be interested, get them to your website where they are able to sign up or “opt-in” so you can begin to send them emails.
Don’t buy your email list! Quantity is not better than quality. It is more beneficial to send an email to 100 people you know are interested in your product or service than it is to send 1,000 emails to a general list. Most of the time, you will just end up with an empty wallet, and a bunch of email opt-outs to show for your efforts.
Don’t over send emails. Your subscribers are going to get pretty annoyed with you if you send them 3 emails every day. Try to keep it to one or two emails every week. You want to be able to keep the subscribers you have, not scare them away.
Avoid spam words. Using common spam words like free, buy, and cheap are great ways for your emails to end up in spam folders before your subscribers even get to see the email. Using all caps can get you in trouble with spam folders too. You should be referring to how to avoid spam filter guides when you are new to writing emails and subject lines.
Add some personality. You don’t want to sound like a robot. Add some life and fun to your emails. Keep the readers interested and you will be on the right track to email marketing success.
Make unsubscribing EASY. This is huge. Obviously you don’t want your subscribers to leave but if you make unsubscribing overly difficult, they more likely to mark your email as spam.
Proofread and test send your email. We have all gotten an email with an embarrassing typo in the subject line or an image that just won’t load. Don’t be that person. You can test send your newsletters and emails to yourself first to make sure that they will look the way that you want.
Send relevant information. Alright, this one seems like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised. If someone subscribed to your newsletter on your internet marketing website because of your well-written internet marketing content, they are NOT going to want to see your latest collage of your family vacation. Keep the information that you send in the right field.
Here are a few great email marketing companies that are awesome for creating newsletter templates to get you going.
Tiny Letter (easiest to use)
MailChimp (Little more options but still easy)
Constant Contact (Most options from the three but the hardest of the three)