‘Sending Email’ Articles

Proofreading your Work

March 14th, 2005 by Alynn Gillespie

You’d never let a print ad appear with a typo in the headline. Your email subject line is likely to be read by more prospects. Do you need another reason to make sure your email is error free?

Yes?

As prospects read your email, what opinion will they form of you and your company if it has glaring typos? Don’t forget, email is often forwarded and printed out for future reference or to be passed along to colleagues. Consequences of those mistakes may linger longer, and be more far-reaching than anticipated. (more…)

Setting Your Email Apart from the Crowd

January 14th, 2005 by Robert Hicks

A majority of the email messages we receive today either ends up in our saved messages folder or goes straight to the trash can. The way our human mind picks through emails which are important, is by looking at the headline. If the headline does not appeal to our normal judgment of being a legitimate reason for contact, the email will most likely be deleted.

The problem with today’s email messages are the bogus and hyped up headlines and content that does not match the headline. The purpose of the headline is that it must sell the email message. Without the main theme in the headline telling of the product or service, the purpose of the headline has been shot down and eventually ends up in the trash. This means for those who are trying to sell by email, you must let the reader know what it is you are trying to sell in order to gain their interest. (more…)

Blocked Email Images

December 14th, 2004 by Alynn Gillespie

An estimated 95 percent of all commercial email messages are sent in HTML or in a multipart (combined HTML and text) format. Most e-mail includes at least a single external image, even if it’s the open-tracking image, a clear, one-pixel GIF image used to track whether an e-mail has been opened.

Virtually all e-mail marketers host images on a Web server, rather than embed them within the message itself. To load images, a call is made back to the hosting server.

The main reasons behind image-blocking features are to enable users to prohibit pornographic images from loading and to prevent spammers from knowing if users open their messages. (more…)

Getting HTML Emails Opened

October 10th, 2004 by Alynn Gillespie

Many people and e-mail programs now regard HTML e-mails as potential spam. That being said, the issue is “How do we send our enhanced, graphics-rich e-mail with the best chance of being opened?!” The answer is to get subscribers to add senders to their address books, helping ensure e-mail is delivered, not binned by the spam filter.

One reason to educate users about the need to add trusted senders to their address books is by default AOL and MSN don’t display HTML in e-mail from unknown senders. Gmail defaults to not displaying HTML even from known senders. If you aren’t added to the address book, chances are users don’t see your HTML bells and whistles. How many customers have specifically added you to their address books? (more…)

Rethink When to Send Campaigns

September 10th, 2004 by Alynn Gillespie

We have all learned the best day to deliver correspondence is Tuesday. The reason… Tuesday is the lightest day for mail delivery and therefore your piece is less likely to get lost in the barrage.

This thinking has transcended from conventional marketing to e-marketing and while it worked in the beginning, the time has come for a shift in the paradigm. Why? If it’s common knowledge for marketers, it’s common knowledge for spammers too. (more…)