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Email Mistakes

Bob Phibbs

When it comes to email marketing, “It's always something,” as Roseanne Roseannadanna famously said. So I thought I would share some things I've learned about sending emails.

1. CREATIVE SUBJECT LINES

The mistake: Being generic.

I've tried to be catchy, funny, both short and long. Creating subject lines that gets people to click “open” is harder than it sounds.

I've used other people's “proven” subject lines. You know what? The open rates were not much better. In fact, I found that putting the proven word “newsletter” in the subject line of my emails was deadly. Even though people had signed up to receive my newsletter, many still weren't opening it.

My July newsletter went out with the subject line that included, “Attract more customers to your store.” Open rates sky-rocketed.

2. SUBJECT-LINE LENGTH

The mistake: Being too short.

I tried to keep all my subject lines short, 50 characters or less, figuring less is more. It turns out the better-performing emails actually have longer subject lines—like Tweets. This was backed up in a special report from Adestra, that found a 150-character subject line received a 93 percent open rate.

3. PERSONALIZATION

The mistake: Being boring.

I used to send out emails with “Hi,” or “Dear Colleague” in the subject line. They felt like a formal letter—nothing special.

I discovered that when I added an auto-text field that inserted the recipient's first name in the subject line, openings increased. A lot.

4. YOUR BEST TIME

The mistake: Believing someone else's ideal time to send would also be mine.

We've heard of a variety of “best times” to send emails: when customers are in “down” time and during business hours; Wednesdays at 6 a.m. are perfect, but weekends are worthless. I tried nearly a dozen emails before I found that the ideal time to send emails to my audience is Sunday nights.

Track every email you send, experimenting until you get it right. Then deliver your emails at roughly the same day of each month and at the same time for consistency. EB

©2011 Bob Phibbs. All Rights Reserved.

INFO: retaildoc.com

For more email tips, link to my full article at retail.retaildoc.com/Portals/69769/docs/9_Email_Marketing_Mistakes.pdf