This selection of CEO Gail Goodman's articles from the past two years gives a comprehensive view of all things email marketing, covering the basics and beyond. To read an article, simply click on the title.
1. Why Am I Getting This?
Making email communication relevant to the receiver
The number one rule for effective email marketing is relevancy. To keep subscribers opening, reading, and responding, your content has to resonate with your audience. When people join your email list, you have one or two opportunities to show them that you can provide value for them. This article offers some tips on how to do it.
2. Can I Trust You?
Earning the trust of your email list
When someone gives you their email address, they are giving you their trust. It takes effort to hold on to that trust and build on it. At a time when people are weary from and wary of spam, you have an opportunity to show them you respect them and are interested in their preferences. This article gives you hints on how you can build trust and avoid eroding it.
3. Writing Compelling Promotional Copy
10 commandments for great copywriting
The words you use in your emails can greatly influence the results they have. This article brings some of the "secrets" of professional copywriters to you. These ten proven commandments will help you write copy that gets readers to take action.
4. Divide and Prosper
Drive higher sales by targeting different types of customers
Your list is made up of people with different interests. Taking a broad-brush approach (emailing everyone with the same information) is not nearly as effective as breaking your list into groups and communicating with each of them about the specific topics that they find interesting. The more targeted your communications, the better your results. It all starts with segmenting your list. This article shows you some ways to do it.
5. Ask and You Shall Succeed
Using online surveys to improve your email communications
You look at your success metrics (opens and click-throughs) to see if your audience is interested in what you send them, but this data doesn't tell you what they are thinking. Sending an online survey is a great way to get specific feedback about your emails. Your subscribers have ideas and insight that you can learn from to improve your email communications. This article shows you what actionable knowledge you can gain by using an online survey.
6. Extreme Makeover: Email Campaign Edition
Five steps to creating better email campaigns
Does your email newsletter need a face lift? Do you want your promotions to look sharper? How are your emails representing your business' or organization's brand? This popular article gives you five steps to help you create better looking, more professional emails.
7. Getting the Subject Line Right
5 tips for writing great ones
An enticing subject line can make all the difference between an opened email and an unopened one. Studies show that most people look at both the from line and the subject line when deciding whether or not they will open. This article shows you what you want to keep in mind when writing this very important part of your email campaign.
8. Making it to the Inbox
6 steps to better email deliverability
You put hard work into an email campaign and you want to be confident that it makes it to the inbox of your subscribers. In this article, Gail gives you six tips on what you can do to get it to its intended destination and not the junk folder.
9. Make an Offer They Won't Refuse
Creating special offers that get your readers to take action
Perhaps the most important element of a promotional email campaign is the offer itself. What are you offering your readers to get them to respond in the way you hope they will? There are offers that prompt an immediate sale and those that generate leads. In this article, Gail covers the difference between the two types of offers, as well as three common attributes of all great offers.
10. Making the Most of Your Subscribers' Sign-up Experience
6 steps for improving your website sign-up form and welcome letter
If you have a place for people to sign up for your email list on your website, you'll want to read this article. You have several excellent opportunities to capture information about and connect with your new subscribers. These six steps will show you how to do it.
Back to newsletter list
It's almost time to say goodbye to 2007, but before you turn the corner into the New Year, why not take a moment to think about this year's email marketing? How did it go? What do you want to do differently or better in 2008? To help you answer these questions, this issue offers a smorgasbord of resources.
