Email Tips & Tricks

Today, we’ll cover...

● Getting people to OPEN your email.

● Getting people to READ your email.

● Getting people to DO SOMETHING from your email.

Boosting Email Opens

Don’t Look Spammy● Avoid Spam Trigger words.

○ These can be surprising…

● Don’t use lots of exclamation points!!! I mean it!!

● Don’t use ALL CAPITALS.

● Balance your text-to-image ratio. (More on this later…)

● Send a test email to a spam checker, like mail-tester.com

Don’t Look Spammy● Don’t paste content from Word.

● Do Not Paste Content from Word.

● DO NOT PASTE CONTENT FROM WORD!

● Word’s formatting is not good HTML. This can mess up your template AND possibly lead you to be flagged as spam.

Subject Line

Subject lines are to emails what envelopes are to direct mail pieces.

● Good subject lines are:○ Clear○ Brief○ Interesting

Clarifying Your Subject Line

If the reader can’t tell what they’re going to get from reading your email, why would they spend their time reading it?

Example: A Word from People for Puppies

Better: 10 Ways You Can Save Puppies

Keeping Your Subject Brief

50 characters is plenty, for most audiences.

Example: 10 Ways You Can Save Puppies from the Plight of Parvovirus

Better: 10 Ways You Can Save Puppies from Parvo

Interesting Subject Lines

● Useful & Specific● Urgent (but only when it really is!)● Evoke Emotion● Inspire Curiosity

Example: Save Puppies from Parvo

Better: Rescue 10 Puppies from Parvo This Month

Better: Rescue 10 Puppies from Parvo in 5 minutes

More on Interesting Subject Lines

These items can be used with good results:

● Questions - What Do Puppies Need Most?

● Numbers - 5 Breeds Most in Danger from Parvo

● Violating Expectations - No Such Thing as a Vaccinated Dog

Be careful - when in doubt, stick to clear and concise over clever and obscure.

Subject Line Don’ts

● ALL CAPITALS

● Exclamation points!!!

● Words like “Free”, “Help”, “Percent Off”, and “Reminder”

● Using the same subject over and over○ Instead of “November eNews”, think along the lines

of “What are Puppies Thankful for this November?”

Sender/From Line

● Use a work-related address

● Consistent, Known Sender Name○ Include the org name first (e.g. People for Puppies,

Kay Nine)○ Be consistent on who is sending what type of

messages to build familiarity with recipients

● Don’t use a “no reply” email address

When You Send It

● Consider both Time and Day of the Week

● It can vary depending on your audience and your email’s contents.

● Research indicates:○ Afternoon is better (get people on their lunch break!)○ Weekdays perform better than weekends

Getting People to Read It

A Caveat...

Getting people to read what you wrote is not always the most important thing…

...as long as they get your message and take the desired action.

More on this later.

Use the Right Amount of Text

● Less is More! ○ 750 words max.○ Put in a snippet that links to full article on your

site, like this email.

● Avoid large blocks of text. Break things up with images and headings.

Use Images Correctly● Never, ever, ever create an email that is one

giant image.

● Set Image Description.

● Use smaller image files.○ Jpeg Mini○ Radical Image Optimization Tool (RIOT)○ Smush.it or Kraken

● No more than 25% of your email should be images.

Make it Purty

● Would you want to read these emails? Would you take them seriously if you did?

● Think of the colors and fonts in your email like putting together an outfit:○ Pick ones that look good together.○ Don’t have too much going on, or its distracting.

Selecting Colors

● Lots of bright colors together can be garish, as can too many colors.

● Matching your organization’s brand.○ ColorZilla plugin○ Or, upload a screenshot to Image Color

Picker

● Use a color visualization tool like Color Scheme Designer or Color Hexa

Selecting Fonts● Best to stick with fewer fonts - 2 max, one for

headings and one for text, works well.

● Aim for readability○ Sans-serif fonts for body text (Arial, Tahoma,

Trebuchet, Verdana)

○ Serif fonts for headings (Georgia, Palatino, Times New Roman)

○ Dark font on light background

○ 10 point (13px) minimum (Pixel to Point Converter)

Provide Good Content● We could spend a whole hour (or several) on

this! (And if there’s interest, we will!)

● Suffice it to say, if what you write isn’t relevant or interesting to your recipients, it will not get read.

Getting People to DO Something

Is reading the email enough?

● Sometimes, yes. If your goal is awareness or cultivation, then a reader opening the email and reading it is enough.

● But...how do you know they read it?

● Give them something to DO as a result - give them links!

Using Links Well● Link to related content on your site.

● Link to your donation page (yes, even in a Newsletter).

● The links should make sense and be useful - don’t put random links in just to have some.

Formatting Links● Make them stand out from the other content.

○ Bold, underline, a different color.○ Don’t use the same formatting elsewhere.○ Avoid underlining non-link text.○ Blur your eyes - can you still locate the links?

● Don’t use generic phrases like “Click Here”. Link to text that indicates what the reader will get from the link.○ Bad: Click here for info on Parvo virus…○ Good: Parvo virus can be deadly for...

Formatting Links● Make the link text just a few words - 2-5 max.

● Set a Title on your links!

● Make sure the link goes to where it should go, and the page is not broken!

Link tracking● Link tracking occurs automatically in

Bloomerang.

● Check to see which links get clicked - that can drive what links you use in the future.

Question Time!