First off, this blog post was spun off 3 instances that occurred to me:
- I was on the host committee for a gala ($250 ticket was the min. price). The non-profit did not have capabilities of purchasing tickets online. I called the NPO and the woman on the other line said that the person in charge of ticket sales would have to call me back. What if I wasn't invested in the organization? Plus, she never called me back. Result: if it hadn't been a host committee member: ticket sale gone.
- I received an email with only an image in it. The image was not optimized for a mobile phone and it was in a really hard-to-read script. What if a) I was reading on my phone and images weren't displaying? Info completely lost. No call-to-action available. Result: ticket sale gone.
- I receive an email with a From Line that says "unknown sender" - um, sketchy! Result: Subscriber gone.
Let's face it: 129.4 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in January 2013 (up 7 percent since October). (comScore Mobilens Report)
If you aren't optimizing for those people slowly rising from their sweet slumber to check emails, then you're way behind and need to catch up.
Get my 6 tips below!
Get my 6 tips below!
Even though email technology has been around for quite some time, it is still relevant. However, with all of the email that has been sent, there are still major culprits of inefficient emails.
The goal of an email is to
- be opened and
- entice the subscriber to perform an action that ends in a positive result for the sender.
In my data driven world, we're optimizing like crazy; there's no reason the non-profit world shouldn't follow suit. You don't need to hire someone to do it, here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Is your email template mobile-friendly?
If your subscriber is having to move their fingers to stretch your message on their screen, you probably just lost that person from reading your message.
There are elements of design that equate to easier reading on a mobile device.
One fast step is using an email marketing service like MailChimp (they have FREE subscription packages) which offer specific, mobile-friendly templates. (They also offer some great resources to bring you up to speed in the world of email.)
2. From Lines
This is one of the first things aside from the subject line that your consumer sees. It's helpful if it's a recognizable from line like your organization's name.
One fun thing to try: If you're hosting a party and your Chair/Host is a recognizable community figure, see if they'll let you put their name in the From Line. The more personal and special you can make a consumer feel - the better.
Tease people about your email. They will see thing they see in their inbox when checking email from bed. Have a 30% off offer? Put it there! People like to save money!
Another pro tip: Link that 30% off offer and let it be immediately clickable so your consumer can go and purchase without having to read through too much.
It's wasted space to have your first line be the typical "Can't read this email? View it in your browser" - you can put that after your tease line.
5. Personalize and segment your list
When people opt-in to your list (or you add them with their permission), drop in their first and last name, too. Most email marketing services offer the option to put in your subscriber's first name.
Pro tip: Change up your greeting from the standard, "Dear xxxxxx" to something a bit more fun and casual like, "Hey xxxxxx!"
There are multiple ways to segment your lists. The last thing you want to do is send an email to someone that decides to unsubscribe. You most likely won't get them back.
There are multiple ways to segment your lists. The last thing you want to do is send an email to someone that decides to unsubscribe. You most likely won't get them back.
- Segment by time zone. There are good and bad times to send email.
- Segment by product/subscription offer.
- Segment by interest (board, volunteers)
- Segment by domain referer - this means being able to know where your reader receives their email. Each ISP has different tactics that help make an email achieve even more potential to be read.
- For example: If your reader uses Gmail, do what ModCloth does and asks people in their first lines to * the email so that it doesn't end up in the "Everything Else" depot.
6. Watch your language (Subject Line and Body)
Let the subject line be something for your reader to have to act upon.
Personalizing is good, too - heck, put their name in it.
It is far too often that I receive an email that has just too much verbiage in it. Kind of like this blog post. : )
If you need to be wordy, save it for your website and provide a link in your email for more info. This email is just a teaser of what's to come and if I care enough, I'll go and find out.
Be to the point and succinct - you have my eyes for about 3 seconds until I move on. If you need me to perform an action, make it loud and clear in your Call-To-Action and make the button big enough so I see it on my teeny screen.
7. Images may work against you (no matter how pretty they are)
Not sure if you know it, but there's a good chance that your images won't display.
I received an email the other day that was ONLY an image. Luckily, the sender has my permission to have images display immediately; however, if you're sending to someone that hasn't decided to do that, guess what? They can't see a darn thing and you lost them. (Also, make sure that image is optimized for mobile, too, and for the love of my eyes - use a font that is readable!)
Pro Tip: put some linkable, relevant text in your email. My suggestion is above the creative so that if the image doesn't show, you can let them act on those links and clickety-click-click!
Now, go and look at your email you have been sending out and see what you can do to make it better. There's just a little bit of TLC to do that can make a world of difference.
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