Marketingterms.com defines email marketing as the promotion of products and services via email. This sounds relatively simple, but when you consider what it takes to get and hold people’s attention today, there is a lot more to email marketing than this definition suggests.
Email marketing, if used responsibly and with restraint, could be one of the best ways for a business to build authority and trust among its target audience as well as create brand recall and increase customer retention.
In this two-part post, we look at eight essential elements that necessary for effective marketing email.
“From” label
The first thing anyone does when they receive an email is check who sent it. The source of an email helps people decide on an appropriate course of action (ignore, read or respond). This is an important part of inbox real estate, so you want to make sure you use it wisely. Your “from” label should match your company name or whoever they signed up to hear from when they subscribed to your list.
Subject line
Your subject line is one of the most important elements of your email as it is the first and only hint as to what your message is about. A good subject line is short, places the most important information at the beginning and gives your recipients a reason to open your email.
Pre-header
The pre-header is the short summary text that follows the subject line when an email is viewed in the inbox. It is usually taken from the first line of your email and is another way to grab your reader’s attention. Whether or not it appears next to the subject line, the first line of your email should be intriguing, build on the subject line and tell readers what the article is about.
Content
When all is said and done, without the fancy design and tricks you use to draw in readers all you have is your content. And good quality content is king! Your message should do at least one of the following things: add value to your customer, teach them about your business, offer a promotional deal, or keep them informed about new products or services. Whatever your goal, your content needs to be straight to the point and informative. You want your customers to look forward to receiving your emails and you can do this by offering them a variety of good quality content.
Click here to read Part 2
