February 26, 2009 — New email marketers are often at a disadvantage when it comes to learning the ropes of building a successful email marketing campaign. This can also be true for veteran marketers who have set their email campaigns on autopilot and are now seeing a drop in the effectiveness of their mailings. Simple techniques like checking the integrity of a new list of email addresses, using properly formatted HTML code, and knowing what words and phrases are now considered ‘spammy’ can directly impact the marketer’s overall return on investment.

The following steps are easy to implement and they help keep spam complaints low, messages out of the bulk folder, and increase the overall effectiveness of the email marketing campaign.

Check the reliability of the email addresses:

• Use only email addresses that have directly single or double opted-in to receive your messages.

• Limit the number of email addresses that, although subscribed to your list, have not been mailed to in over a year.

• Do not use a list if it contains a high percentage of info@, sales@, and support@ email addresses.

• Never send to people who have previously unsubscribed or to addresses that have bounced back as invalid.

• If any of these are in doubt, sending to a small sample of the addresses can verify if the list is likely to cause deliverability problems.

Confirm the ‘From Address’ and Subject Line are effective and not misleading:

• The Subject Line matches the overall message within the body of the content. Never create a subject designed to trick the recipient into opening your email.*

• The Subject Line is well branded and gets the main point across, so that if the message is not opened, but the subject is read and there still is value.

• The main focus of the subject is within the first 30 characters. Many mobile devices truncate subject lines.

• The ‘From Address’ is recognizable and branded with the organization’s name. Do not use a no-reply@ or do-not-reply@ address.

Spend time on message content and design:

• Include only relevant content that offers value to the recipient. Long messages filled with ‘fluff’ are often ignored or marked as spam.

• Keep the HTML code simple. Use a table based layout with inline styles, and always specify margins and spacing, so the email client does not make them up.

• The HTML portion of the content has a nice balance of text and images. If the content is only one big image or series of images it is likely to be filtered as spam, or ineffective to recipients who block images. A good rule of thumb is to keep messages at about 60 percent text and 40 percent graphics.

• Include a text version of the message for recipients who view their email on mobile devices.

The following must be included in the body of the message:

• The sender's valid postal address must be included in the message.*

• There is a visible, functional one-click unsubscribe method in the message. The opt-out process must be streamlined so people can unsubscribe in one click and cannot be asked for additional information or a fee during the opt-out process.*

The following should be included in body of the message:

• Let recipients know why they are receiving the message.

• Ask the recipients to add your ‘from address’ to their address book or contact list.

• Let the recipients know where the unsubscribe link is so they are not temped to hit the SPAM or JUNK button.

• Keep the ‘call to action’ and a link to your website at or near the top of the message so recipients do not need to scroll down to take action.

• Highlight the option to forward the message to friends, family or colleagues. Also include a link to the list’s subscribe form for people who have received a forwarded copy of the message, and would now like to join.

Avoid the following words and phrases:

• Excessive use of the word "free" or "savings", or strings of dollar signs

• Offering a money back guarantee or emphatically guaranteeing something

• Asking the recipient to take immediate action or to buy now because of a "limited time" or "special offer"

• Having to explain who you are and what you do

• Information on beating mortgages, consolidating debt, eliminating bad credit, or reducing bills

• Membership in something, winning stuff, free trial offer

Before hitting the send button:

• Test messages by sending to domains that represent a large percentage of your list. If your list has 20 percent Yahoo addresses and 15 percent hotmail addresses, open a couple of free email accounts with these providers and create a seed list to test your content for delivery and appearance.

• Check that all URLs/links in the content work properly.

• Start sending in small batches. This will help with overall delivery and allow for adjustments if there are delivery problems. Once you have a solid reputation established, you can increase batch sizes.

Follow up when the message is done sending:

• Check delivery reports for any blocks or deliverability issues and take action.

• Check the list of email addresses that have opened the message to verify that the message is making it to all domains within the list.

• Take action if complaints are high. Moving the unsubscribe link to the top of the message content can be very effective in reducing complaints.

• Send on a regular schedule, but do not over send. A regular send schedule will help keep list members from forgetting why they are receiving messages.

Keep improving your campaigns:

• Associate demographic information and purchase history of list members to send tailored content using segments and triggers.

• Use authentication tools like an SPF record and Domain Keys (DKIM) to improve message deliverability.

• Create a welcome letter for new list members.

• Use web analytics to measure campaign effectiveness.

With the key points outlined above, email marketers can avoid or reduce common pitfalls and ensure ongoing success in their email campaigns.

• Required under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003