As more and more consumers get used to the idea of reading marketing messages through e-mail on the PCs and cell phones, e-mail marketing is truly beginning to catch on at retail. At the recently completed PRO Convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., e-mail marketing took center stage is a session hosted by the author of Digital Photography for Busy Women, Laura Oles. Oles touched on many points retailers need to consider when developing an e-mail marketing campaign and we have highlighted a few of the more important here:
• High Value Content for Your Readers
• An Attention Grabbing Name and Sub Heading
• A Regular Publication Schedule
• A Killer Subject Line (that will get past Spam filters)
• An Ezine Mission Statement (to keep you on track)
• E-mails sent out Tuesday-Thursday have a far greater open rate than the other days of the week
We’ve also included a few E-Mail Marketing Factoids you might not be aware of:
• Spending on e-mail marketing will reach $2.1 billion by 2012, nearly double 2007’s spending of $1.2 billion.
— JupiterResearch.
• Findings suggest that e-mail open rates rise with subject lines that are between 50 and 80 characters. However, open rates drop to mid-range when the length is 60 or 70 characters, suggesting the subject line either provides too much information or not enough.
— Alchemy Worx, London.
• E-mail marketers must create the right message. Every dollar spent on e-mail marketing generates more than $48 in sales, and e-mail marketing resulted in nearly $22 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to recently released data. It’s important to follow specific protocols and create appealing content for e-mail marketing to succeed.
— The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), New York
• One of the most horrible things you could do as an e-mail marketer is to have broken links, or your website not working. So test, test, test and then re-test your message before sending it out.
— TalkSwitch
• It’s a good idea to survey your subscribers once in a while and ask them – how are we doing, what do you need? After all, the key benefit of e-mail marketing is building customer relationships and loyalty. Above and beyond everything else, it’s an excellent tool for keeping in touch.
— TalkSwitch
