Here are a few ideas you can incorporate into your email campaigns to make sure the effectively convey your message and produce better results.

Where Are the Images?

To overcome this challenge.

• Make sure that you include a link near the top of your message that allows people to link to a Web version of your email.  ·  Include both text and images in your email.  You should aim to have at least 60 percent of your content in text.  Look at the example on the right.  I’ve excerpted a small portion of an email I received.  It is all one image and I’ve intentionally blurred some of the text to protect the identity of the marketer. 

  All of the words that you see could have been created in HTML.  It takes more preparation time, but the end result is that more of the message and product information would be viewable even in the event that images are blocked.

  IBM’s email newsletter ForwardView is an example of a well-crafted message from an image-blocking standpoint.  Even though the images are suppressed, the content is readily accessible. 
  
• Encourage recipients to add your sending email address to their address book and safe lists.  A perfect way to call attention to this is in your welcome message, but you can also include this as a prompt in your regular mailings. In a recent study, Epsilon found that 65% of consumers either sometimes or always added trusted senders to their address books.
  

• Use ALT tags to name your images.  These tags commonly are used on Web sites so that when a person mouses over an item, the name of the item appears.  This feature can also be used in emails.  For example, you might restate your key promotion copy in the ALT tag.  This is not a perfect solution:  Only some email clients will display ALT tags, but it will improve the user experience for some of your recipients. 
   

Capitalize on Your Preview Pane

The vast majority of individuals at businesses enable the preview pane in their email browser, and slightly more than 25 percent of consumers also use the preview pane.  The preview pane usually is controlled by the user and will vary in size — but as a general rule, you should work with the top two inches of your email, and, in particular, focus on the top-left portion of your display.  Remember, information that appears in the preview pane can be an important additional factor in getting your email opened and read.

The rules of the road are changing.  In the past, conventional wisdom was that you should include administrative items such as “Click here to view HTML” and “Add us to your address book” in the preview pane. Now, you may want to include headlines to support your subject line, additional personalization or even a newsletter table of contents.

Here’s an example from the Wine Enthusiast that makes effective use of the preview pane in its email.  The company includes a marketing headline that complements the email subject line and is followed by the standard administrative details.  I also like that it includes its toll-free number as part of its email header.

Home, Office or On the Go?

Think about your audience and where they may be when they’re reading your emails.  I may be one of the few people on the planet who doesn’t use a PDA or other mobile device to stay current with my emails, but many people do. 

You may want to take advantage of the auto-sensing or sniffer technology available from many email service providers.  Your message is sent in both text and HTML and a small piece of code is embedded in the email.  The code “sniffs” whether to display text or HTML and the appropriate version of your message will render.

While this technology is not foolproof, you might consider implementing it if your audience is made up of heavy mobile device users.  If they’re reading on a mobile device, they’ll have fewer problems reading your message.  If viewing your message on a laptop or computer,  your full HTML version might be available.

You can improve the impact of your messages by employing a few of these ideas.  The better you make the experience for your customers, the more rewards you will reap. 

 

Regina Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, a direct and e-mail marketing consultancy. She can be reached at (203) 838-8138 or reginabrady@att.net.