The Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing

Well that may be a little misleading. With an ever-growing market-space like digital marketing, the dos and don’ts of email marketing revolve as quickly as your inbox does. A “do” today will likely be a “don’t” in a few months. There are, however, some things that always ring true. Take a look at a few of these practices that are sure to hold up through time:

Do:

Find a balance between branding and direct response. If you are steering too heavy in one direction you are likely missing an opportunity for optimal success. A lot of companies get caught up in their brand and creating the catchiest copy, or the most clever designs. While it’s important to create a unique and exciting voice, you can’t lose site of the goal – to actually get these users to the site and buying.

Don’t:

Underestimate the power of the pre-header. You’re missing a big opportunity to increase your open rates if you aren’t putting some thought into this little snippet. The pre-header is the support your subject line needs. Generally, you want your subject line to be short, sweet, and powerful, so if you need a little extra room to get your point across, you absolutely can…and should.

Do:

Your research. Best practices are great to base theories off of, but every company is different. Also, what might work for your neighbor might not work for you. When optimizing your campaigns for the best time to send having a sense of industry benchmarks is helpful…but you’ll get your best information from your own analysis anyways. Dive into analytical tools such as Google Analytics and figure out what looks best for you.

Don’t:

Think too hard. You’ll never get groundbreaking ideas by putting too much pressure on yourself. The best ideas come to you when you expand your mind, not constrict it. If you’re stuck on copy, layout, strategy, or your next campaign idea try taking a walk, chatting with your peers, scouring the Internet, or just throwing out some crazy ideas.

Do:

Test test test. Theories are great, but they are hard to defend with no tangible results. If you are questioning whether a certain strategy will work, or which CTA is best, you don’t need the right answer, but you do need to test it. The results will tell you far more than your theory will and best of all – they’re factual.