1) Clean up your list.
Some email marketing services don’t automatically remove bounces. Other times, people email you to unsubscribe instead of using the handy-dandy “unsubscribe” link in your emails (crazy, I know). Take the time to go in and make sure that your list is up-to-date. Remove any bounces or unsubscribed email addresses, and add or update any new email addresses.
2) Make your links say “click here.”
Copyblogger published a short post about the results of a Marketing Sherpa study on hyperlink wording and email clickthrough rates. The verdict? Telling your readers “click to continue” resulted in an 8 percent increase in clickthrough rates.
When it comes to business writing, you need to tell your customers exactly what you want them to do. Tell them where to click, and you may be surprised at how your clickthrough rates increase.
3) Put your name in the subject line.
Not your name, personally (unless you’re an A-lister), but your company name or the name of that particular mailing list. People may forget that they signed up for your list, and the name will help jog their memory.
It also helps to save a newsletter that gets buried in a busy inbox: customers will know that your email always has “Acme’s Weekly Widget!” at the beginning, and they can easily search for it or send it to its own folder.
Bonus Tip!
Send your newsletter out at the same time every week. Are there any email marketing tips that have worked for you? Share them below! Like this one? Sign up for our RSS feed for blog updates twice a week!
Pick a time to send out your newsletter every week (or every month, however you’re swinging it) and make sure you send it out at that time EVERY week. If you send it out at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, send it out every Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. If you send it out the last Thursday of the month, send it out the last Thursday of every month. Consistency is your friend.
