Category: Email Marketing

  • 7 Tips For Writing Irresistible Email Subject Lines

    7 Tips For Writing Irresistible Email Subject Lines

    Last week we explored what makes a kick-ass blog post headline. Closely related, but with their own challenges, are irresistible email subject lines.

    The challenge: Write an email subject line so urgent and compelling that it demands to be opened RIGHT NOW, while at the same time steering clear of SPAM filter triggers.

    Let’s get right into it!

    Personalize

    Inserting the recipient’s first name into the subject line improves email open rates. This is one of the reasons for requesting both the subscriber’s name and email address. Don’t worry about requesting first and last names separately; most email marketing platforms allow you to easily pull the first name, even when your list has nothing but full names (first and last together).

    Try to use the recipient’s name naturally, like this:

    Karl, your “13 Email Marketing Secrets” ebook is ready

    Shorten For Mobile

    Email is being read more frequently on mobile devices, especially phones. Actual statistics may vary, but most studies agree that mobile email opens are close to or exceeding opens on desktops and laptops. Mobile devices usually have smaller screens and will sometimes cut off longer headlines.

    Retention Science published the results of a study of email line lengths on March 4, 2014. This study analyzed 267 million emails sent across 543 campaigns over a recent six month period.

    Their findings? Subject lines of 6 to 10 words had the highest open rates.

    So get right to the point and cut all useless words.

    Use Popular Song Lyrics and Movie Titles

    Another finding from Retention Science proves that including popular movie titles and song lyrics in subject lines can boost opens by more than 10% for some markets. Their study analyzed 3.7 million emails across 22 campaigns.

    Make It Urgent

    Including the words “Urgent,” “Open Now,” “Critical,” and other words and phrases implying time sensitivity helps convey urgency and significantly increase email opens.

    Just be careful how you use them and avoid exclamation points to prevent your email from being flagged as SPAM. Never use multiple exclamation points!!!!!!

    Provoke Curiosity

    Create curiosity by using a provocative statement or question in your subject line, one that simply begs your recipient to open the email to discover the answer.

    Karl, do you suffer from this embarrassing problem?

    9 of 10 marketers make this common (& expensive) mistake

    Always Avoid These Mistakes

    • Never use all caps.
    • Avoid the word “free” and don’t embarrass yourself by using camouflaged versions, like FR*EE.
    • Never hit “Send” until you’ve checked for misspellings and typos.
    • Drop unnecessary punctuation. You don’t need a period at the end of a subject line. And avoid exclamation points. Question marks are fine if you’re asking a question.

    Finally—Test, Test, Test!

    Many email marketing platforms allow for A/B split testing of subject lines. Run different subject lines and variations against each other and learn what performs best for your lists. Never assume you know what will work—test it!

  • Mobile Marketing Is No Longer Optional

    Mobile Marketing Is No Longer Optional

    A few days ago, Movable Ink posted their US Consumer Device Preference Report for Q3 2013,  showing that 61% of email opens occurred on a mobile device like a phone or tablet. That’s more people opening emails on mobile devices than desktops (“desktop” referring to both desktop PCs and laptops.

    And the Pew Research Center reported in September 2013 that 21% of adult cellular device owners do most of their online browsing via a smart phone. You can view the full report here.

    Mobile users require a different viewing and interactive experience than do desktop users. At the very least, they need to be able to view and navigate content easily. The days of being faced with microscopic type, unwieldy layouts and broken navigation are over for businesses that want to stay competitive. Mobile marketing is here for everyone.

    This means a change in how marketers serve up web and email content to their prospects and clients.

    Only a few years ago, being “mobile-friendly” meant having two websites: one built for desktops and one for mobile devices. You might have identified mobile websites by their URLs having an “m.” as a prefix to the regular URL. Browse eBay with your smartphone and you’ll see m.ebay.com for the URL.

    Simpler websites would have their “m.” sites designed and maintained separately from the main site. You could imagine the pain that would be. More sophisticated sites (like eBay) would dynamically generate the mobile version from a database engine.

    But the fun doesn’t stop there. HubSpot has a detailed blog post describing the SEO problems multi-URL sites can have. Recommended reading if you fall into this camp.

    And then came responsive design…

    Responsive Design is a Good Start

    There’s plenty of discussion about responsive design for websites and email in the popular Inbound Marketing channels.

    Responsive design often uses a combination of meta tags and CSS to deliver content in a layout suitable for the device or media being used. Fonts are larger; menus and links are simplified and optimized for touch; complex, multi-column layouts are reduced to single columns; large graphics are replaced with smaller and/or simpler graphics suitable for the screen size being viewed.

    A responsive website should also strive for faster load times on mobile devices. Again, this means optimizing the layout and graphics to reduce bandwidth demands (smaller images and less complex layouts).

    Here’s a recent blog post of mine displayed on a Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, a Nook 8.9″ Android tablet, and a laptop screen:

    Samsung Galaxy S3 screen
    Samsung Galaxy S3 screen
    Nook Etika Screenshot
    Nook HD 8.9″ Android tablet screen
    Laptop PC screen
    Laptop PC screen

    HubSpot has a very handy tool to simulate how your website looks on various mobile devices. It even lets you navigate your website on the simulations. Very cool stuff. You can find it here.

    My WordPress site (the one you’re reading right now) happens to use a responsive theme that relies on CSS for the mobile-friendly features. A “media query” in the HTML header or in the CSS determines the screen size (usually width) of device you’re using to view the site, then sets style parameters or loads an appropriate stylesheet.

    Here’s an example of an HTML header tag to load a special mobile-optimized stylesheet in the event a small screen is detected:

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="only screen and (max-device-width: 500px)" href="small-phone.css" />

    Other WordPress websites might use similar themes and CSS for responsiveness or they might use a combination of theme/CSS and a mobile plugin or just a mobile plugin with a non-responsive theme. There are pros and cons with each of these options.

    And Don’t Forget Email

    But responsive design isn’t limited to websites. In fact, email might be a more critical application of responsive design, especially since the number of people viewing email on mobile devices is rapidly overtaking desktop use. Simple responsive email designs work much like responsive websites do, by changing font sizes and simplifying layouts into single columns. Here’s an example of an email newsletter using a responsive design:

    email example browser
    Email on a desktop browser
    email example mobile
    Email on a phone

    However, some email marketing platforms allow email designers to create completely different emails for mobile users. Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research at ExactTarget and author of the book Email Marketing Rules, writes about how some businesses are making email content mobile-friendly on the Content Marketing Institute’s blog.

    He talks about responsive design, where the layout alters to accommodate smaller mobile screens, but he then gets into “mobile-targeted” design, where elements of the email content are changed to accommodate mobile users. These elements might include mobile-specific offers (“show this coupon to the cashier for an extra 10% off”) and call-to-action buttons (“click to call now”).

    But, before we can create this alternate email content, we must understand how mobile users consume content on their devices. It’s a new dimension to marketing, but one we can’t ignore.

    Next week, in Part 2 of this post, I’m going to explore the possibilities of how marketers might go beyond responsive design. How does “responsive content” sound?

  • How to Recover from a “Marketing Malfunction”

    How to Recover from a “Marketing Malfunction”

    On October 31, I blogged about how one marketer dropped an f-bomb on his mailing list and paid the price with lost subscribers and customers.

    It was more of a “what not to do” post.

    Now I’d like to explore how you can recover from a blunder like this, the marketing equivalent of a “wardrobe malfunction.”

    More cynical people might assume spin doctoring is in order, but the simplest solution usually requires little more than eating a jumbo slice of humble pie. Be honest with your subscribers and customers and admit you screwed up.

    Let’s take a look again at our WordPress consultant’s marketing malfunction, when he dropped the f-bomb in an email subject line, not once, but twice.

    Subject: BYOB Live – How to Fix a WordPress Website that is Totally F**ked Up!

    Karl — Yes, I know that the f-bomb is entirely inappropriate for professional communication. But sometimes a site gets so messed up that polite language simply can’t capture the agony of owning it. Sometimes something happens that screws up a site so much that it makes you despair for your humanity. One of our members has such a site.

    In my previous post I discussed how his blunder cost him customers and subscribers, but let’s explore how he should have responded.

    First, he should have apologized immediately on the same day or no later than the next. This wouldn’t bring back the people who had already unsubscribed, but it might have given him a chance to make good with those on the fence. Maybe even recovered a few paying customers.

    Here’s one possibility for an apology email:

     Subject: BYOB Live – I am So Sorry!

    Karl – I owe you an apology for my earlier email. It was entirely inappropriate and I’m sorry if I offended you.

    I wanted to get your attention for what I truly believe is a critical issue for WordPress site owners. But I went too far. I promise it won’t happen again.

    I still would like you to attend this important webinar and I assure you that I will conduct this webinar in a professional manner with family-friendly language.

    Again, you have my sincerest apology. Here are the details for your webinar:

    The goal is to keep it simple—a sincere apology followed by a renewed invitation for the free webinar.

    Of course, he could have quietly taken his lumps and pretended it never happened. That’s what many businesses do, but I don’t recommend it—especially if you received a number of complaints.

    Yes, it’s damage control (not a bad thing if you’re sincere), but it’s also important for maintaining the relationship between your business and your customers/prospects. As an inbound marketer, your greatest asset is your relationship with your customers and prospects. It’s your job to repair any damage you do.

    Most businesses typically face problems other than profanity in their marketing communications. It’s often a technical glitch or a problem related to order processing, quality control, or customer service. But your response should be the same: Acknowledge your blunder and offer to make good on the problem.

    If it wasn’t your fault (like a major storm delayed product deliveries), then tell your customers that you understand their anger, concern, or inconvenience and are sorry they had to experience it. Acknowledging your customers’ pain or frustration goes a long way toward solving the prolem. Sometimes, people just want to know that they’ve been heard. And always be sincere in your response, not patronizing.

    But, if the screw up truly is yours, then respond according to the severity and your customers’ reactions. Always fix the problem. Then, if you feel that fixing the problem isn’t enough, offer them something of value, like a discount, an extension to a subscription, or a gift. Sure, it’s a bribe, but it’s also a good investment in retaining your customers.

    What stories do you have about marketing blunders and their resolution? Please share them below.

  • How to Lose Clients and Alienate Your Readership

    How to Lose Clients and Alienate Your Readership

    I was preparing this morning for my weekly webinar with the LinkedIn Inbound Networkers Group, where our topic was “Marketing Dos and Don’ts.” I remembered a doozy of a marketing “don’t” from two months ago: A pair of emails sent by a WordPress consultant to his email list. This consultant ran a paid membership site offering WordPress video tutorials, custom plugins and help forums.

    Back in August, when the first of these had emails arrived, I was absolutely stunned by the author’s idiocy. I was going to say “cluelessness,” but “idiocy” is the only word that truly conveys his colossal blunder.

    Here is the first email subject line and opening paragraph (asterisks are mine, not his):

    Subject: BYOB Live – How to Fix a WordPress Website that is Totally F**ked Up!

    Karl — Yes, I know that the f-bomb is entirely inappropriate for professional communication. But sometimes a site gets so messed up that polite language simply can’t capture the agony of owning it. Sometimes something happens that screws up a site so much that it makes you despair for your humanity. One of our members has such a site.

    Now, I’m not prudish and I sometimes use similar language among people who aren’t offended by it. I even worked on a project back in 1994 that resulted in some very profane and funny conversations with a client. That project was The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. 1: A-G and the client was Random House. Huge project that took most of a year to complete.

    The high-pressure New York City publishing world is infamous for salty language, but the conversations we had with the client during the course of producing this book were priceless. Here’s a snippet of a typical conversation that my wife, my employees or I would have had with the client:

    Client: Go to “f**k your buddy week.”

    Me: Let me open the last “F” file. OK, “f**kwad,” “f**k-you lizard”—here we go, “f**k your buddy week.”

    Client: We need hyphens between the words “f**k your buddy” for the entry and in some of the citations, including “f**ck your friend week” and “f**k your buddy night.”

    And we went on in the same vein. At first, it was hard to resist the desire to giggle a bit at these absurd conversations. But, by the end of the eleven-month-long project, we’d become immune to the power of the f-bomb and other cuss words.

    Thirteen oversized pages of tiny dictionary type were devoted exclusively to variations of the f-bomb in this enormous tome that documented more than 300 years of American slang. I think the f-bomb had the dubious honor of claiming more pages than any other slang term in Volume One.

    My point of this odd segue? There is a time and place that’s appropriate for certain language. I can even think of a few markets where you might need an f-bomb or similar language for authenticity.

    But not for a general business audience.

    Twenty days later I received a follow-up email from this consultant (again, the asterisks are mine):

    Subject: BYOB Live – How to Fix a F**ked WordPress Website Redux!

    Karl — Yes, I know that the f-bomb is entirely inappropriate for professional communication. Hey the last time I sent this out a bunch of people quit! – But that’s how bad it can be sometimes. So bad that the last time I tried this EVERYTHING went wrong. Tomorrow we’re going to take another crack at it.

    He obviously didn’t learn anything! In this email he admits that “a bunch of people quit” after he sent his first email. I assume he lost subscribers to his email list AND paid members of his website. And then he does the same thing again!

    Like I said earlier—idiocy.

    And he paid the price for it with the loss of subscribers and customers. All for a little sensationalism.

    So, is there ever a good reason to shock your audience?

    Sure. Grabbing attention with a provocative email subject line or headline is nothing new. In fact, it’s often critical to cut through the clutter.

    But ALWAYS consider your audience and your credibility with them.

    When I moved from Pennsylvania to Texas, I suffered a bit of culture shock. People back in the northeast tend to throw around mild profanity casually; whereas, people in Texas avoid it. Even a common explicative like “damn it” is often rephrased as “darn it” or even “dag-nab-it.” I’m not kidding! I’ve even heard people refer to “hell” as “H-E-double hockey sticks.”

    So imagine the response you’d get dropping an f-bomb on someone uncomfortable saying “damn it” or “hell.”

    And you’d better believe that our WordPress consultant had such people on his mailing list and as customers. Emphasis on HAD. I’m sure many of them have departed.

    In case you’re wondering, his general tone and language in previous emails was always inoffensive and Rated G—about what you’d expect from someone writing to a general business audience. That made his f-bomb even more shocking because it completely deviated from the persona he’d established in his communications.

    Have you ever received—or used—similar emails or marketing messages that crossed the line? What about ones that shocked but were effective? Please share!