Details that can refresh your emails

“Retail is detail”, or so the saying goes. But the success of your email marketing efforts depends a great deal on attention to detail as well. In her white paper “Seven Email Marketing Refreshes”, Sally Lowery, online marketing manager for email marketing service provider Bronto Software, gives examples of little changes that can make a big different to your click-through and conversion rates.

* Don’t be shy with the subject line. If your email message is promoting a discount, say as much in the subject line. “It’s surprising how many companies may use a subject line that speaks about products versus offers,” Lowery writes. “For example, if you want to offer $25 off to your subscribers when they purchase $100 or more, the subject line that is going to [encourage] the subscriber to open is ‘$25 off your next purchase’, not ‘preview our fall inventory’.”

* Include alt tags with images. An alt tag is the text that appears instead of an image when a recipient’s email client won’t render the image. Given that more and more servers are blocking HTML images, it’s important to take advantage of the alt tags as an additional promotional message.

* Tailor your preheader text. The most common use of preheader text is for something along the lines of “If you cannot view this email, click here”. But Lowery suggests including a marketing message in keeping with the content of the message, such as “Save 25% now through Monday, click here”.

* Incorporate interactive elements into your messages. Short polls (just one or two questions), videos, and RSS feeds can encourage engagement with recipients—and click-throughs to your site.

* Use automation to create trigger-based marketing programmes. Examples of trigger-based emails include welcome messages after someone registers on your site or downloads information for the first time; cross-sell messages in response to a customer’s recent purchase; abandonment programmes, in which you offer a visitor who abandoned a shopping cart an incentive to return and complete the purchase; and win-back emails, which could include a special offer to reactivate a customer who hasn’t made a purchase in six months.