Admail’s first Video User Guide is a guided tour through our Email Builder system. This video provides a step by step tutorial of how to create an email using Admail.net and showcases the features and versatility of Email Builder 2.0.
Admail.net’s Video User Guides: Email Builder from Dan Lukens on Vimeo.
If you read our previous blog post “Creating Image Based Emails and Using Alternative Text and Slicing” you are very well informed about how to use alternative text and slicing to your advantage. You may be wondering however, what a good implementation of these tactics look like. We recently received an email from HP that we believe uses alternative text and slicing with style and class.
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In previous posts we have described a condition with which many email marketers are afflicted. This “disease” can break down a marketer, bringing progress to a halt with confusion and distress.
Analytic paralysis is the condition of being completely hung up on the analytic reports of your emails. Those with this illness disregard common sense and place too much importance on numbers they don’t quite understand.
Today I hope to cure some cases of analytic paralysis by discussing the email open rate. The email open rate refers to the number of people who have opened and read your email. It was created for the purpose of giving marketers a way to see how many people opened their emails rather than just deleting it on the spot; however, these numbers are almost always blurred and don’t give accurate real time representations of how many recipients actually read your email.
Why are the numbers skewed? Read below to gain a bit more understanding.
Statistics show that 84% of people 18-34 use an email preview pane. An email preview pane exists in email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird. It allows you to view a preview of your email in a small window under or next to your inbox. The way opens are reported when an email is viewed in a preview pane is inconsistent. In many instances your recipient may have read your email in their preview pane but their view will not register as an open.
Email open rates are collected based on a hidden image placed into your email. When this hidden image is loaded the recipient can be counted as an open. Many email programs, including Outlook and Gmail, block images automatically. Meaning, users who have viewed your image will not be counted as an open unless they go out of the way to allow the images of your email to be seen, something many people don’t do even if they value the content of the email.
So what does this all mean to you, an email marketer trying to find a good way to judge the success of your emails? Basically it means that open rates are a great way to compare a campaign against one another, but not for much else. If your open rates increase or decrease drastically you’ll know you’re either doing something right or your screwed up.
Open rates are not a good way to judge the individual success of a campaign or your email marketing efforts in general. A low open rate may seem discouraging, but the percentages reported can be very misleading. An open rate percentage should not be used as a hard and fast number to report how many people you have reached. A more effective judge of success of any email campaign is the click-through rate. Click-throughs are recorded more accurately and give you a sense of who has acted based on your email. Action, of course being the goal of any marketing effort.
Don’t let the numbers throw a wrench in your efforts. If you are doing the right things in your email campaign such as providing valuable content, avoiding spam flags and sending to a good list, you will have success.
Avoid analytic paralysis by remembering this information and don’t forget, advertising can only bring customers to your product, you are responsible for giving them something of quality that they truly want or need. No amount of advertising, despite it’s brilliance, can maintain a product lacking in value.
Thaddy Claus (Thaddeus) is tying the bow on our seasonal present for our customers. With the arrival of Email Builder 2.0 we hope to answer some of your email marketing holiday wishes. Email Builder 2.0 is an improved version of our already powerful template system. It has many new features, of which include:
Email Builder 2.0 provides these features and many more! We at Admail.net look forward to the New Year and the full implementation of Email Builder 2.0. If you’d like to try the beta version, please select the beta category when choosing a template in Email Builder. *Please note bugs may be present that will not be included in the final release.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.” This phrase has been used for years to highlight the value of a good visual image. A phrase that has led many marketers to believe more pictures = better content.
One of the most difficult ideas for new email marketers to understand is that email doesn’t function like traditional medias. There are a number of unique rules and standards that only apply in email marketing. If you decide to step into the realm of email marketing, be prepared to throw some of your old rules out the window and to adopt some strange new ones.
In a series of posts, I am going to address several of the rules and issues that arise in email marketing, especially the ones that throw inexperienced email marketers for a loop.
Today, I want to focus on the misuse of pictures in email marketing. Many new marketers want to fill their emails with many large, impressive images. In the worst case some email marketers make their entire email one large image. The reason people fall victim to this taboo is because they are tempted by the possibility of making a beautiful and technical layouts with photoshop or illustrator. The major downside to doing this is, most of your recipients won’t even see the image. Almost all modern email programs have a default setting to block images. It’s true, users can choose to allow images after opening the email, but at first glance, if your message is one large picture, your customer will see nothing but a blank page and a “pictures have been blocked” message. This will not make a good impression and will most likely wound your email campaign, possibly fatally.
Another common misstep is loading an email up with images that have massive files sizes. Not only can this put a strain on your email system, but it can also trigger your recipient’s spam filters. Of course you want your clients to see the best quality image you can provide and you may want to show off a beautiful product, but I highly suggest providing a properly re-sized thumbnail that links off to the larger image file hosted elsewhere. This keeps your email file size low and allows you to create concise and attractive layouts. Believe me, this will save you a lot of hassle and will make your emails much more manageable and effective.
As I continue with this series of posts I will discuss a variety of topics directed toward new email marketers, including posts like: Simple HTML Code Every Email Marketer Should Know, Understanding Open Rates, and Long Live The King: A Focus On Content.
