Your Online Marketing Guide

As you know the world of the email marketer can be fast paced. There are deadlines to meet and multiple projects going on at the same time. You are always pushed to get mass emailings out and to the customers. It is human to make mistakes. The more you are rushed and have multiple things going on at the same time, the more likely you are to make an error.
 

It can be to leave off a link to a site. Or it could be to leave off the time and date of an event. These are very common errors, but ones that can cause you to lose time, customers and ultimately money. You could have a full time editor, but that can be too costly.
 

What I recommend you create instead is an email checklist. This is a list that goes through each part of an email to make sure nothing is missing and it can catch mistakes. You can create the email check list by looking at an email you have already created. Go through each part of the email and write down all the components of each area that need to be checked and rechecked before mailing it out. Below I have listed some examples of things you can look out for in an email.
 

Subject Line
·        Do the first few words grab the reader’s attention? Is it readable on a number of different devices such as a blackberry? You may want to send a test email to see how it looks and experiment with it a little.
·        Does the message convey a sense of urgency? Does it indicate that the reader must act immediately?
Check to see if there are any words or phrases that might get caught in a spam filter. This can render your entire work useless if you can not get it to your customers. SubscriberMail’s top-100-words-to-not-use list is a great place to look for the words that can slow you down.
Body of E-mail
·        Call to action: Look at where this is in the email. If it is worth saying once it is worth repeating so make sure you can see it. If you have to search for it in the email then you know that it needs work. It should just pop out on you.
·        Mandatories. These are items that must be in your email. For example if the email is an event marketing e-mail you would be sure to include the following: the date, location of the event and a “register” link.
·        Design. Make sure the design is easily readable by your readers. Make sure that text is not being blocked by images. Make sure the entire design is pleasing to the eye and that it captures the reader’s attention. ¼br> o       Text e-mail. Analyze the meat of your email. Is it easily readable? Are the paragraphs short and to the point? Have you highlighted certain words and phrases to tantalize the reader?
Reread it
When you are finished breaking it down do a final copy check. Make sure it conveys the message you want. Here are some marketing strategies to consider:
o       When you read the first sentence, does it convey a sense of urgency? Is it compelling?
o       Look to make sure your call to action can be easily found in the second paragraph?
o       Is the email easy to read? Can you scan it quickly and have the major points jump out at you?
o       Your email must answer the top four questions: Why should I open this e-mail?, What do you want me to buy and why? ,Why should I buy it from you? Why should I do it now?
 

Take the time right now and create an email checklist for yourself. It is a flexible document. You should be able to come back and make changes regularly. Remember that it can help save you time, money and clients in the future.