Write A Compelling Subject Line
Take some time to think about what will get your email opened. Look at your past campaigns, see which ones got the highest open rates and try to emulate the type of subject line you used.
Ask to Get Listed in Your Recipient’s Address Book
If the email address that you send your email campaigns from is listed in your recipient’s email address book, your email goes directly into the inbox and your images are automatically displayed. You’ll want to get as many of these as possible.
Include a Forward-to-a-Friend Link
You don’t know what it’s going to take to entice your recipient to forward the email to a friend of theirs so your message gets out to a wider audience. So even if they don’t click on a “forward to a friend” link you include, it may make them remember to simply forward it using their email client.
Prominently Display Your Logo
Simply put, nothing works on your recipients like a familiar logo of a company they do business with.
Include Your Postal Address
This is simply the U.S. Federal Law, so be sure to include your postal address in each of your email campaigns.
Display an Unsubscribe Link
Even the best email marketing campaigns get unsubscribes, but bottom line is you don’t want to continue to send emails to recipients that don’t want them. Not only is this included in the federal CAN-SPAM legislation, but it will end up tarnishing your company reputation with negative word-of-mouth.
Insert Lots of Links
If you think you’ve got too many links…add more! You never know what link your readers will be compelled to click, so make sure you’re linking words and images and you’re linking often.
Use Your Social Media Links
If you’ve got people following you on Twitter, or people who are Facebook fans, make sure you include these links in your email marketing campaigns. You’ll spread the word to a wider audience from within these campaigns.
Above and beyond these “must-haves” you’ll obviously want the articles in your newsletter or your sales copy to be compelling as well. Use this as a checklist for your next email marketing campaigns!
