Cutting through the E-Clutter
CONSUMERS ARE OVERWHELMED BY E-MAIL Inboxes are stuffed with an average 110 unwanted e-mails a week, an irritation to recipients, who report deleting most ads without even reading them, according to Forrester Research, Inc. If you’re a legitimate marketer, however, the news gets better. Two-thirds of consumers who give their permission to receive e-mails actually open the mail, and are more likely to forward that message to a friend than they were last year. But standing out from spam can be a tough task. “It’s a significant problem,” says Darryl Bolduc, manager of e-mail marketing at Delta Air Lines. With spam costing U.S. businesses $10 billion a year in lost productivity, marketers need to be at the top of their game to make e-marketing work. Here are 10 tips to ensure your message cuts through the e-clutter — and the spam filters — to reach its intended target.
- GET PERMISSION
During the initial collection of an e-mail address, double opt-in is becoming standard practice. When a user elects to receive an e-mail, by checking a box or completing a sign up form (opt-in), a confirmation e-mail should be sent requesting a positive reply, acknowledging the request before the user is added to a mailing list. (An opt-out mechanism should be included in the confirmation e-mail.) Maintain a date and time stamp of when the address was collected so that if a challenge arises, the proof is on hand. Some companies have also begun capturing the IP address as an additional identifier.
- TAKE CARE WITH SUBJECT LINES
Spam filters are in use at most ISPs, and these are ever more restrictive in sniffing out certain words, phrases, formatting and writing styles to block messages deemed spam. Using such words as “free” and “money-back guarantee,” or symbols like dollar signs or exclamation points, in the subject line can trigger spam filters. Consumers are also likely to view such subject lines with suspicion and delete the message. Many filtering systems use point scores to determine when a message tips the spam scale.
The systems no longer just look at subject lines, but content in the body of the e-mail message as well, so a combination of suspect words or symbols could trigger a block.
- USE THE ‘FROM’ LINE
Clearly identify the sender, whether it’s a company name, the brand or product or service. If a recipient doesn’t recognize the sender, the message will likely be ignored.
- MAKE IT RELEVANT
If a consumer signed up to receive notices about upcoming promotions or sales in electronics and receives a message about cars, it’s likely to get dumped or worse, make the consumer mad enough to opt out. “You’re burning the relationship,” says Reggie Brady, president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions.
- SET UP A PERSONAL PREFERENCE CENTER
Make it easy for consumers to let you know what they want. Every e-mail message should have a link to a personal preference center available at the sender’s Web site, where recipients can update their e-mail addresses, change format preferences from text to HTML, opt-out or update other personal information. The center is also a great spot for marketers to upsell products.
- FREE SCREENING SERVICES
Take advantage of free e-mail screening services that scan e-mails for their vulnerability to spam filters. At SpamCheck ([email protected]), senders submit a copy of an e-mail promotion and quickly receive back a report that indicates if problems were found.
- SET UP A TEST ACCOUNT
Before the ready-to-go version of an e-mail is transmitted to the target segment, set up a test account with a major e-mail provider (AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail or EarthLink) and send the message to make sure it gets through. Not only does this ensure delivery, it gives marketers a chance to make sure the message displays properly.
- WORK WITH A PROFESSIONAL DEPLOYMENT COMPANY
As experts in delivering e-mail messages, professional deployment companies have relationships with the ISPs and are up to date on the provider’s latest requirements in preparing e-mail messages. Unless you have internal resources that are up to snuff, seek out a professional. “You have much better odds of getting your mail through than handling it yourself,” Brady says.
- CLOSELY MONITOR RESULTS
If open rates or click throughs go way down, it could be that the message was blocked by a spam filter or that your message was interpreted as not relevant. Limit the number of bounce backs by using an e-mail change of address service and regularly clean the file.
- MAKE IT AVAILABLE
A promotion or other content sent via e-mail should also be available in an easy-to-find location on the sender’s Web site. If the recipient missed the message they can find it online and if the content is search-engine optimized, others will likely find it too.
Source: Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions
