Email marketers are always looking for ways to increase impact, so here are the top 15 suggestions for fairly simple inclusions and tweaks to get those response rates up.

  • Dont Rite Laik Dis – An inordenate number of marketing emails contain grammar, punctuation and spelling errors which turns readers off and devalues your companys image. (OK, now find the six errors in that sentence! Answers next week.)
  • Set Your Point Size To Fit Your Demographic – Younger readers appreciate 10 point or smaller type as it fits more information onto a monitor, but older users prefer 13 point or larger to suit their eyesight.
  • Keep It Positive – The news is depressing enough, so avoid references to recession, politics, war, and the pervading malaise of our age. You want to associate your brand to happy, good times and feelings.
  • Incentives Work… – When your customer asks the question “what’s in it for me” ensure that you have prizes, discounts, and other hooks to pull in the reader and get them interested.
  • …So Do Deadlines – When you’re offering an incentive never keep it open-ended. A short deadline in the immediate future will motivate the reader to respond positively.
  • Encourage Contribution – Many of your customers would love to have something they’ve created publicly associated with your company. Why not have an online poem contest, or an art show, or photo exhibition connected with your brand?
  • Consistency Wins – It is imperative to keep delivering relevant and informative content on an ongoing basis. If your emails alternate between pearls of wisdom and sheer filler, your readers will tune out.
  • Let’s Face It: Sex & Food Sells – It has to be the oldest trick in the advertiser’s handbook, but relevant, attractive images of sensual individuals, and lip-smacking images of delectable food are going to stop readers in their tracks far more than a photo of a hard drive or an electric drill.
  • Use Subheads – Your emails should never be monolithic blocks of type. Most readers just skim through them, so make sure that you have headings that grab their attention.
  • Give Them A Break – Your readers don’t want to hear from you more often than their family. Throttle down your frequency to build anticipation.
  • Say Hi Through Social Media – Invite your readers to interact with your brand through social media, but make sure that the content is unthreatening and never high pressure. Social Media is not Advertising Media.
  • Keep It Seasonal – There’s always some special occasion around the corner, and it is advantageous to flavor your emails with references to the day but without making the message seem corny or cheap.
  • Avoid Triple Plays – $$$, …, !!!, and ??? are email marketing poison. If you have to emphasize your content in this manner, it betrays a fundamental lack of overall creativity.
  • Keep The Audio Relevant – Many computer users keep mp3s or internet radio playing during the times they read their emails, so if you have to include an audio file make sure that it really rocks! Skip the Muzak and synths, and hire a Top 40 Star to record a jingle.
  • What’s Your Name – Are your emails From: Info, or Order Dept., or Customer Service? Why aren’t they from Brian, or Sally, or Iqbal? And why not go the extra step and associate your customer’s surname with a contact name from their own national background?