It`s an old, old saying, but it`s true: you only have one chance to make a good first impression. And in email, the first impression is always visual -- a consumer LOOKS/SEES before he/she READS. Imagine walking by a grotesquely garish storefront with all kinds of things hanging off the front porch, every floorpainted a different color, and odd music playing throughloudspeakers. Would you want to walk in the front door? Noway! You`d assume that the owner is a kook, at best, or aderanged axe murderer, at worst.
Did you ever have an ugly looking email land in your mailbox? You know what I`m talking about: an orange background and yellow borders, multi-colored text in allsizes from gigantic to microscopic, a message that looks like it was created by a crazed six-year-old? If you did, I bet you didn`t feel the urge to read it. You probably just wanted to delete it as quickly as possible.
PUT OUT THE WELCOME MATTER
You want your email message to be friendly and inviting, not bizarre and scary. The suggestions below -- and they`re just suggestions, not hard and fast rules -- will go a long way towards making recipients ` eyes say "come on in!" toyour message.
DO`s and DON`Ts FOR ATTRACTIVE EMAILS
DON`T use COLOR fonts in your message. (Leave that to junior high girls who want to write about Britney and Justin)
DO use BLACK TEXT ON A WHITE BACKGROUND. (When you`re "speaking" in black-and-white, people will give their full attention to your message without being distracted by your color scheme.)
DON`T use UNCOMMON FONTS. (If someone`s system doesn`t recognize the font you`ve selected, they could see gibberish instead of your brilliant message).
DO use the email marketers` FAVORITE FONTS: Arial, TimesNew Roman, and Courier New.
DON`T use flashing buttons or banners in your email! Please. (Your prospects have undoubtedly gotten their fill of "bells and whistles" when they`ve surfed the Internet. They don`t need more from you.)
GET HYPER WITH EMAIL HYPERLINKS
An "email hyperlink" is just techno-talk for a link in your email to a website, or email address. Sounds simple enough,and it is -- unless you try to contact a prospect on AOL who may not be able to receive "clickable" links. Don`t worry. There`s a "fix" for this: simply type mailto:in front of your email address (no space in between, and include the : ) For a link to a web page, you need to write your link this way: http://earndolloronline.blogspot.com (And tell your recipient they can copy and paste this link into their browser if it`s not highlighted.)
ALWAYS USE SIGNATURE TAGS IN YOUR EMAIL
Today, it`s common practice on the Internet to tell people about your product or service with a SIGNATURE TAG, which is 3-6 lines of text (usually) that is automatically added to every message you send. If you`d like to add a tag to your messages, simply open your email program. Find the SIGNATURES TAB (located in theTOOLS/OPTIONS menu in Outlook Express). Follow the (simple) instructions for creating a sig file. Easy as pie...and the results will amaze you.
Showing posts with label Email Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Email Marketing. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Essential Rules For Effective Email Marketing
If you want an email campaign to succeed, you don`t want to offend anyone when sending your messages. Turn off a consumer with your email and you can be sure they`ll tune out your message. Don`t let this happen to you!
A message that earns respect makes sales. That`s why our first topic for discussion is email etiquette. Train yourself to always -- and I mean ALWAYS -- stick to the rules below when crafting your email message.
RULE #1 - ALWAYS WRAP YOUR LINES AT 65 CHARACTERS OR LESS
Whenever you write an email, always format the lines so thatthey`re 65 characters, or less, across. To do this, you may need to do a "hard return" by hitting "Enter" at the end of the line.
Wondering why to limit your lines to just 65 characters? (Good question! It shows you`re thinking.) There are two reasons that "less is more":
- The first thing to remember is that looking at a computer screen for a long time causes EYE FATIGUE for many readers. The shorter span of characters across the screen makes reading easier and more appealing to the recipient of your email message.
- The other reason to go short instead of long is this: some email clients AUTOMATICALLY ENFORCE LINE-WRAPPING at 60-65 characters on received messages. If your email is wrapped at 70, the content will arrive all "chopped up." This makes it unattractive, worse and unappealing.
- Tip within a Rule #1: Email clients such as OutlookExpress allow you to SET THE LINE-WRAP to any character-width you choose. That means you won`t have to hit Enter each time after typing 65 characters. Makes life easier!
- Tip within a Rule #2 - You can type 65 asterisks or dashes in a Notepad file to create a template. Then paste your email below it to see if any lines extend too far tothe right.
RULE # 2 - BE CAREFUL USING ALL CAPS
How many times have you changed the TV channel to avoid listening to a screaming car salesperson? No one likes a screaming salesperson...and no one likes a "screaming" email message, either. Odds are, when someone has over-amped the volume of their message by using too many capital letters(not to mention too many exclamation points and other punctuation) - you`re going to be turned off.
On the Internet, email messages written in all caps are considered yelling. It`s okay to write some sentences and some words in all caps, but don`t go over board. (As you can see in this message, I`ve tried to use capital letters to help break up sections of the content from time to time)
- Tip within a Rule: Consumers buy from a source they trust. Emails in all caps are perceived as "shady" or uneducated, and have an appearance that damages the credibility of an offer.
RULE #3 - WATCH YOUR Ps & Qs (Spelling and Grammar)
Would you be influenced by an email selling you something that had noticeable spelling and grammar mistakes? Sure you would...and the influence would be negative, not positive! When a consumer reads a sales message that`s filled with spelling and grammar errors, they think to themselves, "Good grief, this person doesn`t even take the time to get his emails right. His product is probably the same quality as his emails."
When you`re in business, YOUR IMAGE IS YOUR REPUTATION and your reputation is the reason people buy from you or the guy down the block. It`s essential that you create an image of INTEGRITY, CREDIBILITY, and HONESTY in the mind of your prospects. Sending emails filled with errors doesn`t hurt your professional image...it destroys it. (Ouch!)
A message that earns respect makes sales. That`s why our first topic for discussion is email etiquette. Train yourself to always -- and I mean ALWAYS -- stick to the rules below when crafting your email message.
RULE #1 - ALWAYS WRAP YOUR LINES AT 65 CHARACTERS OR LESS
Whenever you write an email, always format the lines so thatthey`re 65 characters, or less, across. To do this, you may need to do a "hard return" by hitting "Enter" at the end of the line.
Wondering why to limit your lines to just 65 characters? (Good question! It shows you`re thinking.) There are two reasons that "less is more":
- The first thing to remember is that looking at a computer screen for a long time causes EYE FATIGUE for many readers. The shorter span of characters across the screen makes reading easier and more appealing to the recipient of your email message.
- The other reason to go short instead of long is this: some email clients AUTOMATICALLY ENFORCE LINE-WRAPPING at 60-65 characters on received messages. If your email is wrapped at 70, the content will arrive all "chopped up." This makes it unattractive, worse and unappealing.
- Tip within a Rule #1: Email clients such as OutlookExpress allow you to SET THE LINE-WRAP to any character-width you choose. That means you won`t have to hit Enter each time after typing 65 characters. Makes life easier!
- Tip within a Rule #2 - You can type 65 asterisks or dashes in a Notepad file to create a template. Then paste your email below it to see if any lines extend too far tothe right.
RULE # 2 - BE CAREFUL USING ALL CAPS
How many times have you changed the TV channel to avoid listening to a screaming car salesperson? No one likes a screaming salesperson...and no one likes a "screaming" email message, either. Odds are, when someone has over-amped the volume of their message by using too many capital letters(not to mention too many exclamation points and other punctuation) - you`re going to be turned off.
On the Internet, email messages written in all caps are considered yelling. It`s okay to write some sentences and some words in all caps, but don`t go over board. (As you can see in this message, I`ve tried to use capital letters to help break up sections of the content from time to time)
- Tip within a Rule: Consumers buy from a source they trust. Emails in all caps are perceived as "shady" or uneducated, and have an appearance that damages the credibility of an offer.
RULE #3 - WATCH YOUR Ps & Qs (Spelling and Grammar)
Would you be influenced by an email selling you something that had noticeable spelling and grammar mistakes? Sure you would...and the influence would be negative, not positive! When a consumer reads a sales message that`s filled with spelling and grammar errors, they think to themselves, "Good grief, this person doesn`t even take the time to get his emails right. His product is probably the same quality as his emails."
When you`re in business, YOUR IMAGE IS YOUR REPUTATION and your reputation is the reason people buy from you or the guy down the block. It`s essential that you create an image of INTEGRITY, CREDIBILITY, and HONESTY in the mind of your prospects. Sending emails filled with errors doesn`t hurt your professional image...it destroys it. (Ouch!)
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