Things to Avoid in Your Email Newsletters
November 30th, 2007 by EmmaBefore you hit send on your next big email campaign - or your not-so-big one, for that matter - make sure you’re steering clear of these major email marketing no-nos. Here are our ten quick tips on what to avoid in email newsletters, stylishly illustrated by Hal Mayforth. For a more in-depth discussion of what to avoid - and what to do instead - check out our accompanying Ask Emma Q&A.
CC’ing everybody.
Still showing your entire list of recipients in the To or CC field? Yowza. Show some discretion and personalize that delivery, amigo.
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Getting freaky with Comic Sans.
Fonts, graphics, links and colors are great; just make sure all that formatting has a purpose.
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Sending one big image.
Sure, it looks lovely in Photoshop, but how will it fare in an e-mail client that blocks images?
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Neglecting to personalize.
From greetings to the content itself, make a point to connect with readers in a personal way.
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Forgetting the opt out.
Leaving off the opt-out link isn’t just annoying, it’s also illegal.
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Using generic subject lines.
“October Newsletter” may in fact be what you’re sending, but readers need something catchier to know just what makes October so great.
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Ignoring results.
If you’re investing in e-mail, tracking (and reviewing) the response helps you make sure it’s worth it.
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Sending a novel.
Respect readers’ time–and short attention spans–by getting to the point(s).
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Sending too often (or not enough).
Send too often and you might annoy; send too infrequently and they might forget you. Work toward finding your ideal frequency.
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Not sending tests.
Sending yourself tests is the only way to ensure the real thing looks and reads just the way you want it to.
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Want a few more details? Don’t forget to visit the accompanying Ask Emma Q&A.
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January 13th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Fantastic post. As a professional myself, I didn’t learn anything new, but I am going to use this link for other people when I need to explain email marketing in ways they understand.
Love the layout and imagery too. Great stuff. I’ve subscribed.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:35 am
This post really is a perfect way to drive home the key points! Like Kimota, I didn’t learn anything new, but it is a great way to explain to others. Who created the cartoons? How can I get permission to include this (in whole or in part) in a presentation?
January 14th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Happy to have you, Kimota, and glad that the post can serve as a resource for you. What types of folks are you typically explaining email marketing to?
January 16th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I do newsletters for a couple of my Boards I’m on, these tips were great and receive many, many newsletters. I wish the people sending me newsletters could read your guidelines, it might make them a little more bearable to read!
January 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Just added emphasis to the “send yourself a test copy” first.
You must READ them when you get them! One of my associates set everything up for an email broadcast, thought he did it correctly, sent himself a copy, and without taking enough time to read it carefully, he sent it out… mistakes and all.
Hey… it’s tough to catch our own mistakes. Our minds read what we THINK we said, so we must slow down enough to catch what others will SURELY catch.
One friend writes “Some people like to read spelling and grammatical mistakes and take pleasure in finding them… I’m sure they’ll find something in here!” But for ME… I like to avoid them!
Charlie Seymour Jr
StageMagazineOnline.com
Charlie@StageMagazineOnline.com
Where Theater Lives Online!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi Charles,
As fellow members of the Freakishly Thorough Proofreaders’ Club, we couldn’t agree more with you. Some folks tend to be more forgiving of typos when they’re in an email or on the web, but glitches like those reflect on your company and your brand no matter where they happen. Here’s to happy proofing at stagemagazineonline.com, and thanks for the comment.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Great suggestions! I totally agree about “keeping it short”. I don’t know about you, but my attention span is “zilch”. Give me something quick and easy to read. I offer a “Quick Tip” about once every 8-10 months. It keeps my clients and readers in the know and keeps me in touch with them without them being burdened with too much to read.
January 17th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Hi, folks at Silver Web Solutions! I’ll keep this reply short (of course) and say that we love your quick-tip style. Just curious, as we email folks tend to be - how are you sending those tips to your customers?
January 17th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Images drive the points home and the points are basic but mandatory. Love the quick tip style.
Elizabeth Bighorse
http://www.moodswingsonthenet.com
January 17th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Thanks for the tips. I am just puting together my first email campaign so this was very timely to me.
Middleman
http://www.becksdistributing.com
January 18th, 2008 at 8:17 am
One other tip is to make certain your email newsletter software comes through for people who have text only set for their email software. They won’t see your pretty colors and images. Does your message still get through?
For people that decide they want to see pretty, does your newsletter have a click here to view online option for those people?
January 18th, 2008 at 8:50 am
You’re absolutely right, Michael - when designing a newsletter, you’ve got to pay attention to HTML’s slightly less flashy sibling, plaintext, and it’s certainly a no-no to ignore the all-important view-it-online link. Thanks for the comment!
January 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Good stuff….although a bit basic for me since email marketing is in my blood and have been doing it for like 6 years…its a good post for those just starting out.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Great post,
As a professional email marketer i didn’t find anything unknown to me but all of the points made were spot on. I’ve been busy putting together an email marketing glossary together on my website, is there any chance I could include your tips? I will of course link back to here. If not, no worries!
Who did the cartoons? They’re great…
Steve
Amplified Media
January 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi Steve, thanks for the comment. The illustrations are the mighty fine work of Hal Mayforth (www.mayforth.com), and you’re welcome to link to our tips. Good luck with the email marketing glossary - be sure and let us know when you’ve finished it!
January 20th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Suzanne, I work in copy writing for an online marketing company in Australia and we are continually extolling the virtues of methods such as email marketing or blogs in addition to the obvious and over-relied upon SEO techniques. Hence, trying to convince people that email marketing isn’t just spam, isn’t something you get the work experience kid to do and isn’t a minor afterthought to any marketing strategy.
As such this article is a quick and easy pointer to the important issues.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:16 am
Thanks for the follow-up, Kimota. We couldn’t agree more. We’re awfully fond of Aussies, having worked with many over the years and even hired one, and I’m happy to hear you’re helping folks in your neck of the woods jump on board the email marketing train. Figuratively speaking, of course. We frown upon any sort of literal train jumping.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I have a client who is “Sending one big image” in her email. Does anyone have any statistics on how email email clients block images or how many people set their email clients to block images. I’d like to advice my client against “sending one big image” but I need to know how serious this “infraction” in before I raise my concerns. Anyone know where I can get more info on this?
February 19th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Hey Mark,
Thanks for the comment, and I’m glad you asked about big images. One of the best repositories for articles about email marketing is http://www.email-marketing-reports.com. You can browse the statistics on image rendering there for starters, but for the best answer, I’d actually suggest running a split test with your client’s next campaign. Send The Big Image to half the list, and for the other half, consider splitting up the big image or redesign the campaign with a blend of text and images. That way, you’ll have statistics specific to your audience.
Oh, and let us know how it goes!