Strategic Design | marketing & branding thoughts by Nick Rice

Over the years, I've learned to always be on the lookout for new tools and technologies that can make our marketing lives easier. One of those tools is ResultsMail. It's an easy and cost effective way to start email marketing. It has a great list management section as well as terrific reporting.

I've used this tool to blast over 60 email campaigns to different customer segments in 2005. We generated an average open rate of over 20% - well above the industry average of 1%-5%!

Let me offer a few tips & tricks:

• Only send information that is valuable to your customers. No one likes spam. In fact, there is legislation to stop spammers. See the CAN-SPAM act for the legal side of email marketing.
• Use personalization in the subject and introduction of your email. It increases response rates.
• The SUBJ line is critical. Keep it short, descriptive, and relevant.
  
• Consistency is king. Try to communicate weekly or monthly or quarterly. Just be consistent.
• Make sure that you include a text-only version as well. Roughly 50% of users can read HTML emails.
• Be sure to include an "opt out" link. This is part of the Can-Spam act and just good practice.
• Test, Test, Test your campaign before launching it to your audience.
• Always include a "refer a friend" link. This is a great way to build your list with warm leads.
• Be sure that your email campaign reflects your offline message and visual style. The email needs to look like your postcards, billboards, TV ads, catalogs, websites, coupons, etc... Confusion does not lead to loyalty.
  
• Create a web version of your email. Include this link at the top of your text-only email blast, it's an easy way to provide text users a better experience.
• Never use the word "Free" in your subject or email. It will get blocked by spam filters.
• The latest research data shows that Fridays & Sundays generate good email responses. Bucking conventional wisdom isn't a bad thing after all...