Basic Rules For Effective Email Marketing
by Ronald Gibson
Published on this site: May 17th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
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
that happen to you
A message that earns respect has a better chance to make sales.
That`s why our topic for discussion is email etiquette.
Train yourself to always and I mean always stick to the rules below
when crafting your email messages.
ALWAYS WRAP YOUR LINES AT 65 CHARACTERS OR LESS
Whenever you write an email, always format the lines so that they`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 you should limit your lines to just 65 characters?
Good question! There are two reasons why "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
and worse unappealing.
How do you get your lines to wrap at 65 characters? Some
email clients, such as Outlook Express, allow you to set the
line wrap to any character width that you choose. That means
you won`t have to hit Enter each time after typing 65 characters.
Makes life easier. You can also 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 to the right.
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 ascreaming 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 andsome words in all
caps, but don`t go overboard. (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).
Remember that consumers buy from a source they trust. Emails in
all caps are perceived as "shady" or uneducatedand have
an appearance that damages the credibility of anoffer.
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 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.
Follow these basic email marketing rules and you will dramatically
improve your chances of being a successful email marketer.
Ronald Gibson is a Web Designer and Web Marketer. He is
the Webmaster of AffiliateUtopia.com, which offers information about
some of the best money making opportunities on the Web. For more
information, visit: http://www.affiliateutopia.com/
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