UK DMA's survey reveals key insights for email marketers

One of the challenges for email marketers is to stop thinking like email marketers. A lot of assumptions about best practices are based on our collective view of just what's going on inside consumer inboxes. But this view is biased by what's going on inside our own inboxes. If you're an email marketer, you're probably an online regular with a heavy duty email account or accounts. The same can't be said of the proverbial man and woman in the street: the people who typically get the actual emails. Our email experience is not their email experience. Or is it? Truth is we don't really know. Surveys of end users can, however, help correct our misconceptions. They provide important insight into how we might adapt our email campaigns to the reality of end-user inboxes...to the benefit of the email bottom line. The UK DMA, fast.MAP and Alchemy Worx recently …

Some practical tips for email and web copywriting

Chunking is breaking your copy up into easily scannable paragraphs. Chunking is more effective for your online readers, here’s why…

This is how non-chunked copy looks to your readers

It’s a mountain to climb…

This is how chunked copy looks

I can manage this! Usability expert Jakob Nielsen wrote the definitive study showing that most users don’t read online, they scan. Until recently you had to read his classic 1997! study, but now these sketches give better proof. Thanks, to Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports for saying we could share the sketches from his original copywriting tip on Smart Insights.

More chunking tips

To add to Mark's original, some tips that I’d add to make your chunking in email marketing more effective are that: The first 2-3 words matter most. As a user scans a web page or…

Four tips to get better quality copywriting for less

There are certain things in life that we think of as free even if they aren’t. Water – turn on a tap and out it comes Motorways – drive as far as you like whenever you feel like it Web content –it doesn’t take long to bash a few words out Yet the fact is, that every piece of copy you commission is a cost that comes straight out of the bottom line. There are seen and unseen costs. The seen cost is what you pay your copywriter to create the words and the web developer to upload it. The unseen cost is your management time of briefing it out and approving it. Every revision costs more time and money. Cut that time and you’ll cut the expense. Take a look at this example of a typical retail site... …

How to approach content production for your emails

Last time out, I suggested four reasons why you might add content elements to your traditional, "promotional" (retail) emails. The trouble with this kind of advice is it sounds great in theory, but what about the "how" part, where can we find this content is the challenge for most? How do you produce content that is useful, engaging and/or entertaining? And how do you do that when budgets are tight and your time is limited? Let's start with four general guidelines, before looking at some specific ideas.

Producing content: four broad guidelines

1. Recycle

Many people are intimidated by the prospect of producing copious quantities of new content...but you don't have to. (more…)…

For the past couple of years I've enjoyed checking out the annual Email Marketing Look book from Chad White of the Retail Email Marketing blog. This year it's part of Responsys, but still looks great and I think will inspire email marketers at different levels, for example, how to use Email marketing to... Build a brand and develop relationships Personalise through contextual or behavioural emails Support different devices and platforms - support for mobile and tablet devices are to the fore in this years examples - important given the evidence of the increased importance of mobile email reading/scanning. The only disappointment was examples of social media integration were a bit thin. You can download the LookBook for the full-set, here is my selection of what inspired me most:

Nike UK Enewsletter which gets the Sell-Inform-Entertain balance right

Volvo UK email with responsive design…

A collection of resources for creating effective HTML email templates

What are the requirements of an effective HTML Enewsletter template?

What would you say are the essential features a good quality email template that works both for subscribers and the company broadcasting the mail alike? Well there are many factors which may affect this, but from a communications effectiveness point of view, I would say some of the key features of email templates are that they: The main marketing messages and offers are clearly communicated. They get their message across whether images are blocked or not. They render effectively in all the most common email readers. Don’t look like templates… - they remain engaging because they can change with dynamic content. Support different marketing activities like new product launches, campaigns and events. Have blocks for tailoring content That prioritise offers? Support the full range of relevant standard features, so for a retail enewsletter that's a Table of contents, Search…

Words to use and words to avoid to write more engaging email subject lines

Selecting the best subject line, headlines and content types for emails is a constant challenge for email marketers as they write copy for their campaigns and newsletters.

Which are the most engaging words on Facebook post headlines?

I recently found a good source of insight for words to consider by the excellent Dan Zarrella who analyses consumer Facebook behaviour. I hope this inspires you when you're next writing or reviewing email copy or trying to devise ideas for emails. Of course it should help with Facebook and blog posts too! These are the words that the research showed were popular for sharing. Source: 7 Ways to Get Your Blog Posts Shared On Facebook What can we take from this? Well, we have to remember this is an analysis across a massive range of…

What does your email signature say about your brand?

A signature is like a snapshot of your personality. Do you know when you sign your name in a personal or professional communication unknowingly you disclose much more about yourself, than you want to. In this post I surface some recent examples of the email signatures in customer service and offer thoughts about the personality of those behind them and the brands they represent. As a security conscious citizen I rarely disclose my signature for others to see. So increasingly I have become surprised when I see what seem like genuine signatures being used within customer service communications, particularly email. It also strikes me as odd that companies continue to 'sign off' their emails as if it is a traditional letter. Don't get me wrong - of course your email needs a footer and further contact information but when is it appropriate to add…

The overhaul required to add a few percent to your results can easily leave you wide-eyed and intimidated. And casting worried glances at your budget. Fortunately, there is such a thing as a quick fix in email marketing. Sort of. Quick in the sense that very simple changes to words or design elements can have a huge impact. Not so quick in that you'll need to tweak, test, explore and experiment to find the right change that brings the dramatic improvement. Here are three areas where minor modifications can bring a quick result boost, each backed with real world examples illustrating the potential.

1. Sign-up, subscribe or join?

There it sits on your sign-up form, waiting to accept the click after someone filled out their email address. But does the wording on the button affect whether people choose to press it? Of course it does. The "wrong" wording drove down sign-up conversions by 22.9% for one newsletter publisher. The…

What are the options for embedding video in email?

Value: [rating=4] Our commentary : With video becoming more widespread across the web and test showing it's effective for conversion, I'm being asked increasingly whether there are any good technologies for embed video in email. While there have been claims to do this in the past, none of the solutions I've seen are reliable enough. This review by Campaign Monitor explains the options well. Please let me know if you know of any other tools. Marketing implications : The evaluation shows that since Javascript is disabled in most email clients, embedding Flash, QuickTime or Windows Media really isn't an option. So you have to fall back on animated gifs if you want a reliable approach and these are becoming more popular. This report from Smith Harmon has some good examples of Animated Gifs in email. Recommended link: Tools to embed video in email -…