ARK BLOG
Email Marketing Dos and Don’ts
Hiya! Wendy here, your favorite ARK Marketing Assistant (and not because I’m the only one 😉)! Did you know that the first email ever sent was from Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer, in 1971 – over 50 years ago? He sent the email to himself, and funny enough, it contained a quick line of gibberish that said, “something like QWERTYUIOP.”
Because we live in a world with such a high emphasis on social media, business owners may not think to put as much effort into email marketing as they once did. However, a lot of big businesses still agree that email is one of their most powerful marketing channels, and big or small, we agree too! In 2021 alone, worldwide, over 319 billion emails were sent and received each day, so if you haven’t thought about sending an email campaign in a while, there’s no better time than the present!
Unfortunately, email marketing isn’t as simple as hitting the “send” button, but fret not! I’m here to share a few of my favorite “dos and don’ts” that are sure to help make your email marketing campaign is both impactful and effective. Let’s dive in!
Do:
Send valuable and concise content:
- Use a simple layout and keep content short, sweet, and to the point by sticking with just one topic.
- Write your email using your specific brand voice to ensure familiarity and consistency.
- Choose images that are optimized for all devices, eye-catching, and relevant.
- Make sure your call-to-action leads to relevant offers or information and that it stands out from the rest of the email (we LOVE to use bright colored buttons for our CTAs).
- Keep subject lines fewer than 50 characters and include a value preposition so people know what they are getting upon opening.
- Use verbs and action-oriented language in your subject and pretext lines to create a sense of urgency and excitement which can lead to an increase in open rates.
Check responsiveness:
- Optimize your emails for mobile devices (it's estimated that 55% of emails are opened on mobile) in addition to all other screen sizes.
- Add alt text to your images. A lot of email hosts block images by default, so by adding alt text to your images you not only help recipients understand your message (even if they can't see your images right away) but you also ensure screen-reading tools are able to describe your images to visually impaired readers.
Utilize segmenting:
- Create segments within your email audience by grouping like-minded people/company contacts into clearly defined folders, or lists.
- Use segmenting to ensure you’re delivering value to each subscriber (you wouldn’t want to send a healthcare related email to a construction company, because, well, that just doesn’t make any sense!).
Dont:
Don't Get flagged as spam:
- Avoid using an excessive amount of all caps and multiple exclamation points.
- Stay away from spam trigger words that are easily detected and marked down by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like "opt in", "click below", and "order."
Don't Focus solely on the open:
- Avoid focusing purely on just the look and sound of your email because, quite literally, your email is just the first click.
- Invest just as much time and energy into creating and providing customized landing pages to send the reader directly to the item, offer, or information you are highlighting in your CTA.
Don't Forget about storytelling:
- Share every lesson, achievement, funny moment, and more just like you would with your social media content.
- Get personal by making your emails feel like a gift to the reader by offering tips, tricks, useful information, and special offers.
- Use more casual conversation tones to build a more personal relationship with the reader.
Yearning for More?
I don’t blame you! I wish I could share all of the deets when it comes to email marketing, especially since it’s such an important essential for small businesses. That would be a LOT of typing though. But, here’s a better idea – instead of having to worry about learning all of the email marketing things yourself, let us take one more thing off of your plate by hiring a new marketing director and by that we mean us! Who doesn’t want one extra task taken off their to-do list, am I right, or am I right?
Be sure to check back soon for more useful marketing tips. If you’d like to inquire or learn more about the services ARK has to offer, email us or comment below! Also, follow us on Facebook and Instagram for industry news, inspiration, and helpful tidbits for finding small business success.
Sincerely,
