CONTENTS

.INTRODUCTION 3

.DESIGN MATTERS 4

.OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE 5

.INCREASE YOUR OPEN RATES 6

.LEARN THE LAW 7

.KILL YOUR CLUTTER 8

.SCHEDULE EMAILS FOR SUCCESS 9

.SEGMENT YOUR EMAIL LISTS 10

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INTRODUCTIONThis marketing guide is built for action. We put it together so you could easily find which email tips you can use and execute them immediately.

Each section is broken into three parts: 1. Why each strategy is important and how it fits into your email

marketing plan 2. The dangers of not following each strategy 3. Three quick ways you can implement each strategy

Our goal is to set you up for email marketing success. To do that we packed this ebook full of great content so lets dig in!

Enjoy!

Joel Widmer & John Price

Fluxe Digital Marketing Nashville, TN joel@fluxedigitalmarketing.com

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DESIGN MATTERS Ask any successful email marketer and they’ll tell you a fancy email template won’t impress your recipients. Take a second to think about how fast you burn through your unread inbox. I know I spend less than 2 seconds going through my unread email newsletters. If something doesn’t catch my eye IMMEDIATELY, my mouse is already hovering over the delete button ready to strike! I guarantee your subscribers are no different.

A well-designed email has one thing in mind: The subscriber. A high converting email needs something to catch the subscribers eye and keep them reading. The top of your email isn’t the place for a big company logo or picture. The number of people using their preview panes to scan emails is rising and if the only thing they see is your logo, I can guarantee it won’t be enough for them to read the rest of the email. Also, according to a survey from MarketingSherpa, “Only 33 percent of those surveyed have images turned on by default in their email client. This is a vast difference from 2006, when the figure was a still concerning 55 percent”.- MarketingSherpa, (2010) The number of subscribers that enable images continues to fall and if your email depends on images, 67% of your subscribers might not even be seeing it.

3 Design Tips To Put Into Action

1. Put your best content above the fold. It may sound counter-intuitive but your subscribers will only scroll down if they like what they read.

2. Make sure your email is less than 650px wide

3. Lose the fancy graphics in your email. Most email clients (ie. Outlook) block graphics causing formatting issues that make emails unreadable.

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OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE

Our phones have become a lot more than a calling device. In fact, according to a recent survey from PEW, 83% of Americans own some kind of cell phone and those making over $30,000/yr own a smartphone.

That means half of your list (probably WAY more) is reading your emails on their phone.If you haven’t tested each email across the main mobile platforms for formatting and readability, you may be sending a jumbled mess of text to your subscribers.

Use a tool like iPhoney or W3C mobileOK Checker to optimize your emails for mobile before you send them out.

3 Ways to Optimize Your Emails For Mobile Phones

1. Put the most important content and your call-to-action at the top of the email so it’s read first

2. Use contrasting colors because they’re easier to read on small screens.

3. Make sure you have a plain text HTML version available on every email because many recipients have images blocked on their email server.

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INCREASE YOUR OPEN RATES One line will make or break your email open rates. You probably already guessed it: your subject line. If your subject line doesn’t capture your audience’s attention and make them want to read more, it’s going straight to the trash. So what makes a truly great subject line?

First, what NOT to do. Resist the temptation to use what could be considered “Spam words.” If you read the email compliance section you know how picky email marketing laws have become, so make sure to avoid words like “Free”, “Percent Off”, and “Sale”. Usually these words will get sent directly to the email providers spam folder to be lost forever with all of the other “Great Offers” out there.

Remember the goal of your subject line is to get the reader to open the email. That’s it. Don’t try to pack a bunch of information into your subject lines. It should give the reader enough information so they know what to expect in the email but also create some intrigue so they actually want to click it.

3 Rules for Great Subject Lines

1. Keep subject lines 50 characters or less so they don’t get cut off in your recipient’s inbox. Use this handy tool to show how your subject line is viewed across the most common email carriers: Litmus Subject Line Checker

2. Constantly TEST your subject lines to find out which get the highest open rates. Try sending half your email list one subject line, and the other half of your list another subject line and see which one got more people to open the email.

3. Make sure the subject line is always relevant to the content in your email.

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LEARN THE LAWDid you know there are strict email guidelines for email marketing? Did you also know there’s $16,000 fine if you don’t follow them? Don’t let that scare you but it should be enough to get you to take a second look at your email marketing strategy to make sure your emails are following the rules.

Here’s a few important rules to get you started:

3 Email Compliance Rules:

1. Tell recipients where you’re located by including your physical address at the bottom of every email.

2. Give your readers an easy way to opt-out. At the bottom of each email, include an easy way for readers to unsubscribe from your list.

3. Find the rest of the rules at the email compliance website HERE

Fluxe Digital Marketing Nashville, TN joel@fluxedigitalmarketing.com

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KILL YOUR CLUTTERAsk any successful email marketer and they’ll tell you a fancy email template won’t impress your recipients. Take a second to think about how fast you burn through your unread inbox. I know I spend less than 2 seconds going through each of my unread email newsletters. If something doesn’t catch my eye IMMEDIATELY, my mouse is already hovering over the delete button ready to strike! I guarantee your subscribers are no different.

A well-designed email has one thing in mind: The subscriber. A high converting email needs something to catch the subscriber’s eye and keep them reading. The top of your email isn’t the place for a big company logo or picture.

The number of people using their preview panes to scan emails is rising and if the only thing they see is your logo, I can guarantee it won’t be enough for them to read the rest of the email.

Also, according to a survey from MarketingSherpa, “Only 33 percent of those surveyed have images turned on by default in their email client. This is a vast difference from 2006, when the figure was a still concerning 55 percent”.- MarketingSherpa, (2010) The number of subscribers that enable images continues to fall and if your email depends on images, 67% of your subscribers might not even be seeing it.

So, what does a high converting email look like?

3 Design Elements You Need In Every Email

1. Put your best content above the fold. It may sound counter-intuitive but your subscribers will only scroll down if they like what they read.

2. Make sure your email is less than 650px wide

3. Lose the fancy graphics in your email. Most email clients (ie. Outlook) block graphics causing formatting issues that make emails unreadable.

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SCHEDULE EMAILS FOR SUCCESSImagine you’ve just spent hours writing the perfect newsletter to your anxiously waiting email list. You put the final touches on it, hit the SEND button and wait for the money to start rolling in... and then... nothing happens.

Huh?

In all your excitement you sent the email at the same time everyone else did and it got buried in your overwhelmed prospects inbox.

So many times this is just a case of poor scheduling. And can be easily fixed by paying attention to your email analytics.

3 Ways to Schedule Your Emails For The Best Results

1. Analyze your email reports for clicks opened over time. Check which days and times are performing the best and stick with them. If your using email marketing software like Mailchimp or AWeber, these analytics are provided.

2. A/B test your emails. Create two segments in your email list to send the same email to at different times. Compare open rates to find which group performs the best.

3. Keep in mind that timing is different for every list. There is no industry standard. Every list is unique and it’s up to you to continually test to find what time works best!

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SEGMENT YOUR EMAIL LISTS

Segmenting your email lists allows you to organize your subscribers into subgroups based on almost any criteria. It can result in higher clickthrough rates, an increase in active subscribers and ultimately more sales.

The better you can target your marketing messages the less your audience will view them as marketing and the more they’ll start viewing them as a valuable resources. The secret is relevancy.

For some industries, segmenting email lists is more important than others. Look at Groupon for example, they segment their email lists by geography and have recently incorporated interests to reduce the number of irrelevant emails their audience receives.

If your just beginning to segment your email list, start by evaluating what segments will be the most actionable for your business. Many segments provide interesting data, but the secret is knowing how to use the data to benefit your customers and ultimately your business.

3 Ways to Segment Your List for Success

1. Demographics: Include Age, location, gender, industry etc. They’re a great first step in understanding the structure of your audience.

2. Prospects & Customers: How many people on your list are already your customers and how many do you have to convert? Understanding this will help you tailor your marketing messages.

3. Recent Subscribers: Are you sending your new subscribers a little extra love? You should be! Make sure to send them a welcome email and something that shows your excited to have them.

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