Email Marketing Basics For Affiliates.
Just a quick post as someone who has just performed a mamoth email push for an online marketing client.
Email marketing has taken a bit of a back seat to RSS feeds, tweeting and other in the social network revolutions.
The basics of compiling an opt in email list are simple. Ask your site visitors. Buying lists (especially on ebay) can land you in trouble (and with a hole in your pocket) big things to ask was when was the data collected, how was it collected and was it double opt in. Also should you end up buying a list make sure it is segrigated and that each contact has a category.the more data you have access to the better. If you are going to be sending out a newsletter about sex toys for ladies you really need to be able to filter out all men, under 18s etc (and preferbly those who have an interest in this as it could otherwise end ub being a bit of an embarrasment). If you are sending out a news letter about a new plumbing tool, you not only need to target the plumbing industry, but possibly filter out accountants, and other office staff of that industry. I think you get the idea.
Best bet is to collect data yourself, but again make sure it is optin and collect as much data as is reasonable.
So once you have your list, have limited the recipients to only those who will find the email useful and interesting and have your email delivery system (email newsletter program for your desktop, newsletter contact manager, newsletter sending service on web etc) you need to think about your content and how to get people to actually open the email.
With regards to content, same rules apply to web pages (discussed elsewhere on this blog) and if anything you have even less time to make your impression.
With regards to email open rates, you have to offer something that is appealing, useful and screams being beneficial to the recipient without shouting spam. If you have correctly targetted your recipients half of the job is done.
There are a few tips to help email newsletter open rates though.
The main key is to have a consise subject line and to have a teaser to the main text of the newsletter at the star, as many email programs will display the first few lines or have a preview pane for the email.
Ask for feedback at the end of the email. This way you can collect more data and find out what your users want!
