Hints and Tips for E-Mail Marketing
by Patrick Totty, reprinted from Inside CT

Follow this old newspaper rule to get people to read your e-mails

One of journalism’s basic rules says that you lead off a story by spilling all the beans. In other words, your first sentence says, “A man bit a dog this morning at the corner of Elm and Main streets, resulting in injuries to the dog that required several stitches.” Then you follow with information about the breed of dog, the circumstances surrounding the bite (the man was biting back; the man was insane; etc.). Good e-mails do the same: They announce clearly what they’re about in both the headers and first paragraph. Bad header: “Important Information!” Bad opener: “We want to tell you some exciting information about one of our money-saving packages.” Good header: “Xanadu Trip Available for $5,000 Inclusive” Good opener: “Because of your previous interest in Xanadu trips, we wanted to tell you we have last-minute openings for a late-March trip to Xanadu.” Newspapers don’t beat around the bush, why should you?

Middle of the week is best for sending e-mails, but timing isn’t everything

Internet research firm EmailLabs reports that Tuesday (25.4%), Wednesday (23.3%) and Thursday (18.3%) are by far the three most popular days for sending out e-mails. Weekends are a bust: Saturday (0.9%) and Sunday (1.4%) barely register on e-mailers’ consciousness. There are no surprises here – common sense says that people are most receptive to e-mails delivered in the middle of the work week, when they are more likely to receive attention, vs. trying to compete with weekend distractions or Monday morning funks. But EmailLabs offers some counter-intuitive advice: “Off” days like Fridays, Mondays and the weekends can work for you if:

• You know your clients and what content will grab them (see the item below)
• You haven’t been e-mailing them constantly, so a message from you seems fresh
• You haven’t wasted their time in the past with hype or gush

Here’s an irony: While people get angry at receiving unsolicited e-mail, a surprising percentage also get angry when they actually request e-mail and then never receive it. Harris Interactive says that its recent study of 1,054 Internet users shows 70% of respondents say they have consciously requested to receive e-mail marketing messages (to be informed about sales or discounts, be reminded of important dates, be alerted to sweepstakes, etc.). Twenty-nine percent report feeling more ticked off over not receiving requested e-mail than they do receiving spam. This says two things: 1.) If somebody asks to be put on your e-mailing list, do it. 2.) Ask recipients to disable spam-blocking filters that might block your messages (and make sure your headers aren’t spam-like – for instance, don’t write “20 Nights at Paris Hilton”)

How "Writer’s Digest" irritates readers with its clumsy e-mail content

One of Inside CT’s writers recently gave Writer’s Digest permission to put him on its e-mailing list for periodic updates. He assumed that in between some ads for books there’d be columns and articles giving practical advice on writing for a living. Big mistake. The e-mails, which came twice a week, were nothing but teasers for this and that Writer’s Digest title. There was no practical advice, or tips or how-to’s, just a lot of copy about why to buy particular publications. He soon cancelled his subscription. The company violated a cardinal rule of e-mailing: People don’t mind being pitched to – after all, they know you’re in business to make money – but they do mind having their time wasted with nothing but pitches. When you e-mail people, give them two things: The word about what you’re selling and good information that makes their lives easier (such as how to deal with sickness abroad or rules of thumb for keeping overseas travel expenses down).