“How can it be better?”

We’ve written a lot about web copywriting here on the Green Notes blog over the last couple of years, mainly covering copy for search engine optimisation and the best way to write effective website content. One web copy theme that we’ve only briefly touched upon, despite it being part of all our lives on a daily basis, is copy for email marketing.

Email marketing copy is an incredibly wide-ranging concept, and like every other area of web copy the quality of everyday examples varies wildly from the sublime to the sub-ridiculous. Email marketing itself, when executed properly, remains a phenomenally effective advertising medium, however there’s a fine balance in getting it right and wrong. Take a look through your inbox and the email marketing flyers that you’ve received today - how many of them have you responded to so far? Chances are not many, if any at all.

We’ve been creating email marketing at Green Media for nearly ten years, and have seen the industry grow from simple plain text snippets into interactive visual showcase mailers that have more in common with high-end websites. The recipient type has evolved just as significantly, from lone network administrators receiving a few mails a day on behalf of their company, into super-demanding web users that mercilessly cull hundreds of emails from their inbox without as much as a second glance every single day.

Here are a few email marketing copy tips that we’ve found useful over the years, covering some of the issues that should always be prioritised in copywriting for this medium.

Imagine the recipient

Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. If your data list is refined then you’ll have a pretty clear idea of who it is you’re marketing to, and the copy should be written accordingly. Selling Xbox360 games to teenagers clearly requires a different approach to marketing £100,000 Bentley cars to company directors in their 50’s.  Imagine the recipient. Imagine what they’re likely to respond to. Imagine what they’re likely to be turned off by. Once you’ve done your first mailing to any list, for any product, check out the click-through and response rates to see what worked and what didn’t.

Is the call-to-action sufficient?

The call-to-action (CTA) copy is effectively the most important part of any email marketing. Without a carefully crafted CTA the reader won’t follow-up on the message, and the whole exercise will be wasted.

Again, the requirements of a CTA naturally vary, depending on what you’re actually attempting to get the reader to do. If you’re offering a freebie that you know they’re interested in, then the CTA will need nothing more than a straight-forward line and link. If you’re presenting something completely new to the reader, or selling a high-value product, then the CTA will need to be suitably detailed.

Don’t accidentally disguise your email as spam

With so much unsolicited spam email these days it’s rare to find a company junk mail filter that isn’t anything less than rigorous. These filters are on the lookout for any number of indications that an email is spam, some of which can be found in the most innocent marketing mailers. Characters such as “£” and “!” are typical examples of spam triggers, along with terms like “Sale”, superlatives like “Best” and anything vaguely sensational. So, it’s important to avoid these in your email marketing copy - especially in subject lines - or face the prospect of your e-flyer heading straight into a virtual bin.

Get in touch with Green Media for more information on effective email marketing.

Check out the Green Media portfolio update for this month, featuring the new website for Digital Crayon as well as email marketing for Colebrook and Burgess, operators of the North East Audi Group.

We’ve also included our own email marketing mailshot, as a neat example of a flyer-style presentation.

We’ve updated the Green Media portfolio for June, showing a selection of work carried out during the month. The update features the stunning new Simon CGI website and an incredibly effective Audi Newcastle e-flyer.

Take a look

We’ve added a selection of email marketing examples for March on the Green Media portfolio, including our first e-flyer for exclusive super car marque Spyker, as well as a fantastic Audi cabriolet special event mailer.

See for yourself

It’s absolutely essential that your company marketing represents the very best that you have to offer if you’re going to get the results you need, particularly in today’s incredibly competitive business environment.

If your marketing isn’t projecting the very best indication of your products and services, you’re not only missing a huge opportunity to connect with people, you’re also potentially damaging your brand long-term.

We see examples of some truly dreadful company marketing on a daily basis, despite the ever-increasing demand for quality. Here are some of the most common;

- Bulk mailings sent from Microsoft Outlook or a similar email system

- Campaigns sent using basic DIY template programmes

- Marketing emails sent with attachments

Using these methods simply creates a negative effect and turns prospective customers away. This sort of approach gives a wholly unprofessional impression, which is precisely the opposite of what it should be doing. If you’re currently employing these methods, we’d like to talk to you.

Here at Green Media, we know what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for all. That’s why we approach every marketing job with fresh ideas. Like everything we do, there’s nothing off-the-shelf, and your campaign is created specifically for you, around your own requirements and expectations. Standing by this ethos, we’ve helped hundreds of companies in a diverse range of sectors successfully market themselves over the last decade. We’d like to add your company to the list.

Take a closer look at what Green Media has to offer.

We’re debuting our new supercar client Spyker’s email marketing this month, with a typically sophisticated e-flyer. As you’d expect from the ultra-exclusive Dutch marque, the flyer features a sublime style and inspirational imagery, along with a powerful yet understated call to action.

The Spyker “Six Senses” e-flyer will be part of March’s portfolio update at the end of the month, so come back shortly to see it for yourself.

The February portfolio update has been set live, featuring a selection of Green Media’s work during the month.

Email marketing examples include a flyer for the remarkable Bentley Continental Supersports, and an incredible sale mailout for Jardine Motors Group, featuring Ferrari, Maserati and Bentley models.

We’ve also launched three exciting new websites; interactive country of origin directory Made in Nations, business finance experts Dovetail Financial Solutions and specialist car brokerage Precious Metals.

Take a look.

Next month’s update will include an e-flyer for a very special new supercar marque - check back shortly to find out more.

We were delighted to hear about the response to a recent email marketing campaign for one of our Jaguar clients, which again proved the overwhelming business benefits of advertising through the downturn and the incredible potential of email marketing. The e-flyer, for Lancaster Jaguar Sidcup, was mailed out on Friday 5th December and led directly to the sale of ten brand new Jaguars and forty-five enquiries of interest for possible future purchases.

The mailer was sent to a datalist containing 1946 registered customers and achieved a 42% open rate - far higher than the industry average. The decision to broadcast on a Friday helped to create momentum throughout the weekend, as highlighted by the results.

The stunning sales results emphatically demonstrate that email marketing is still the most effective pound-for-pound promotional medium available, continuing to make an impact even in the hardest-hit sectors.

If you’re looking for a low-cost and effective way to get your message out to customers and prospects, then email marketing is likely to fit the bill. This series of articles is designed to highlight the key issues - explaining what to do, what not to do, and why. In this piece, the first of the series, we’re looking at some of the most commonly-spotted problems in email marketing, and the ways they can be avoided.

However, if you just need the benefits of great email marketing but perhaps don’t need to know all the ins-and-outs discussed here, then get in touch with us - we’d be more than happy to demonstrate how effective it can be when done properly.

Copy for email

Copywriting for the web has its own distinct set of rules, largely based around hitting your point straight away, avoiding unnecessary words, maintaining clarity and giving the reader a pay-off as soon as possible. You’ll find that these themes come into sharp focus when writing email marketing copy. All too often it is bogged down with a long-winded and dawdling style, and this lack of clarity can effectively kill a whole campaign, regardless of how good your offer is. Just as deadly to email marketing is copy that is too brief, as this can fail to engage readers.

If your marketing email is vying for attention amongst a hundred or so other emails throughout the course of a day then it absolutely must make an impression and stand out - and the copy is a clear opportunity to do this. Your opener is crucial - engage the recipient straight away by making it clear precisely what you’re offering, what the benefit is to them and why it’s worth reading on. If these things aren’t obvious in the first couple of lines then you’ve lost your chance.

Image-heavy mailers

Email marketing that over-employs imagery can look incredibly good, but it can fail to be effective in terms of results for various reasons.

With increased awareness of viruses and security threats it’s quite rare these days for people to have their emails set up to show images immediately. So email marketing that is overly reliant on images is completely dependent on recipients clicking to see them - which they often won’t!

Even if an image-based email does make it through to a viewing, there are several different email clients and systems that display HTML messages in very different ways. Your carefully crafted masterpiece that was designed to perfection might look unrecognisable on certain clients. Be sure to code around this, and don’t leave out any of the popular email clients.

Despite the image minefield, some brands have fantastically effective e-flyers made up purely of images - Schuh is a good example of this, as well as a lot of the high-end fashion retailers. However these mailers work on the strength and recognition of the brand itself, often in the subject line or from field. If a recipient sees a respected and trusted brand name (obvious phishing aside), they’re far more likely to click “show images” or allow the flyer to upload. Once the recipient has seen the email quality, it’s likely to be assigned to a safe senders list from that point onwards. However, if it’s an unknown or unexpected brand sending the email, then no amount of “can’t see this email? Click here” messages will encourage the reader to open it.

It’s best to achieve a balance between text and images, so recipients can see immediately what you’re trying to say and it’ll look the part as well. For more information on this, see our dedicated article.

From fields and subject lines

These two underappreciated factors are the first things that appear in an inbox, so they deserve as much consideration as anything else in email marketing. As mentioned earlier, if used correctly they can instantly win over a recipeint. However, if either of these are fluffed, then you’re risking the failure of the entire campaign, regardless of how brilliant it might be in every other respect.

First off, the from field - it’s not exactly complex stuff, you’re just saying where the email is coming from, but there are definitely some rules you should be following here. Again, if you’re marketing a big brand or respected name then take the opportunity to reference it. Don’t bother with an email address, especially not a clunky “donotreply@” style one. Using names in from fields is an option, but it depends entirely on whether the recipient will be expecting it and will know who the named sender is. A name in a from field can add a neat personal touch in certain cases, and you’ll find that personally written newsletters often carry the name of the author in this field.

Next up, the subject line - this continues to be one of the most poorly executed elements of email marketing, but again is a fairly straight-forward thing to get right. The golden rule here would be, simply, don’t look like spam. Don’t use words like “best” or “cheap”, and avoid full subject lines in capital letters, as these are likely to trigger spam filters and send your marketing directly to junk mail folders. For the same reason avoid using characters such as “£”, “$” or “!” even if there’s an entirely credible reason to do so. Once you’ve got these spam issues out of the way, think about how best to present your message in the most succinct fashion. Don’t make it too long or cryptic. It needs to be quick-fire, contain a selling point or an intriguing line to encourage an opening. It’s a vitally important factor so make the most of it.

Timing

The day and time that you send out your email marketing can play a large role in deciding the end result. Sending out on a Monday morning will all but guarantee failure in most sectors. Think about the start of your own working week… do you have time to peruse and respond to unexpected emails? It’s unlikely.

With newsletter-style email marketing, decide on a regular mailout day and time - and stick to it. Recipients will expect the email to drop into their inboxes at the same time each week, month, or however often you send it, and it’s this regularity that will guarantee and maintain a certain level of interest.

More sales-driven email marketing should be timed around key buying times, depending on the product or service you’re promoting.

Call to action

The last point in any email marketing is the call to action, the element that turns a recipient into a customer. It’s incredible to think that any email marketing could be sent out without a cast-iron call to action, but it does happen.

Don’t leave your reader in any doubt whatsoever as to what they need to do to take you up on your offering. Walk them right through to the phone number, email link or web link that takes them to a conversion. Ideally give them an option of all three, different customers have different preferences so you should cater for them all.