Email Marketings Richess

If you want to make sure that your email will look appropriate,

After you build up your email list, you are ready to actually write the emails. However, right before you start, you will need to decide if you want to send an HTML email versus an all-text one. HTML emails, which can be sent through email marketing services or email software, (both of which will be discussed more in detail in Chapter Three), utilize HTML coding to make an email look like that of a web page. They contain graphics, interactive forms and clickable links.

They are visually more appealing than text-based emails and can increase response rate, since they allow you to cloak affiliate links, (which will be discussed in the upcoming sections). Additionally, it doesn’t take much more effort to make them. How do you do this? Some email marketing services will allow you to make them through their network; otherwise you can use a word processing program such as Microsoft Word to create them. All you would have to do is select ‘Save As’ HTML document once you are finished and you have an HTML email.

The downside to HTML emails is that sometimes the images don’t load, which can give your email a spam-like appearance. Even if they do load, there’s no guarantee they will look right once it is sent over. Emailing a sample HTML email to yourself can help you determine what it is going to look like, though be aware that just like any other web page, HTML emails load differently depending on the browser that is used.

If you want to make sure that your email will look appropriate, you have the option of sending it as text-only. Text-only emails do not contain graphics or clickable links. They almost always come out looking okay. You also do not need email software or an email marketing service to send them. However, the disadvantage to text-based emails is that you do not have the opportunity to include a clickable link. Readers would have to copy and paste the link into their browser in order to visit your website. If your offer is extremely interesting to them, they will go on and take that extra ‘step’, but it’s still inconvenient, even if it’s for literally one second. Yet, if you must send text-based emails, there are ways to make your link more memorable and ‘catchy’, at least if it wasn’t already. The exact techniques will be discussed shortly.

Once you have decided whether you are going to write an HTML versus a text-based one, you are ready to start thinking about what could be considered the most important element of your email: the headline or subject line. The headline is what determines whether or not your email will even get read. Headlines that are not attention-grabbing and/or those that look ‘spammy’ will result in your email being thrown away in your subscriber’s online trash bin. Examples of spammy email headlines are those that try to deceive the reader into opening them. The spammer often makes the reader think they are a friend responding through the use of RE: (which is short for regarding). They may also use headlines like: Attention: Important Information Regarding Your Account to make the reader think the email is from a legitimate service they may be a member of. Other spam emails make the reader think they’ve won or received something when they really didn’t. Avoid these tactics because not only are they not professional, they eliminate any type of interest the reader may have had in your content. Worse, the reader may even report you for spam, regardless of whether or not they were on your email list.