23 Email Marketing Rules to Follow
In this installment of my “23 Rules…” series, I’m tackling email marketing. Below, you’ll find what I believe to be 23 essential rules to effective email marketing. Please add to the list by leaving a comment in the replies.
1. Never, under any circumstances, spam others (learn about the CAN-SPAM Act)
2. Give your readers options for unsubscribing
3. Have a plan. Don’t just randomly send email blasts.
4. Focus on creating benefit-driven subject lines
5. Keep subject lines under 50 characters so they aren’t cut off
6. Avoid using spammy words in your subject lines
7. Tailor your message to the preview pane by placing the most important info up top
8. Track your results (delivery rates, open rates, click throughs, conversions, etc.)
9. Don’t try to do too much within a single email
10. Link to highly-targeted landing pages
11. Don’t email too often as it can upset customers and cause them to ignore you
12. Always deliver on the promise of your subject line
13. Let subscribers update their contact info quickly and easily
14. Use clear, powerful calls to action throughout the email copy
15. Test different subject lines, copy length, and calls to action to find the winning formula
16. Make sure your email copy is easy to scan
17. Keep any images small for fast loading
18. Try to build relationships with your subscribers
19. Don’t buy your email list
20. Don’t sell your email list to others
21. Send confirmation messages when someone subscribes to your email list
22. Your success depends on the quality of your email list
23. Never stop building your email list
Which email marketing rules would you add to this list? Leave a comment with your thoughts.
Check out other posts in the “23 Rules” series”:
23 Copywriting Rules to Live By
January 5th, 2010 at 10:03 am
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January 6th, 2010 at 8:34 am
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February 24th, 2010 at 6:59 am
I would add use appropriate links in your e-mail signature as well as a appropriate call to action. I've been using WiseStamp to create a clean, professional looking e-mail signature. Also used bit.ly to create a trackable url which I included into the e-mail signature.
Thanks for these tips, they are great.
March 8th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Thank you for this post. You really have some valuable information as I am currently beginning an e-mail marketing campaign.
My one question is how to avoid spam filters? I plan on using a current online solution to manage my campaign but I have not found information stating that that will bypass spam filters. Also, I will be running an opt in e-mail campaign so I will be using pre-approved addresses.
April 28th, 2010 at 5:12 am
I would add "do not always sell." You see so many marketers who constantly sell to their lists, and this seldom works. i stay on people's lists when they provide value.
I understand that you have to sell occasionally, but it is not necessary everytime!
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June 2nd, 2011 at 3:00 am
For a email marketing we need certain kinds of rules and regulations which are dramatically improve your chances of being a successful email marketer and it can help the business to keep customers coming back , i really appreciate the appropriate rules provided in this blog.