Improving Messages to Your Email List

The average return on investment (ROI) is approximately $44 for each $1 spent on email marketing.

If your brand is BIG and BOLD, your emails should be too. Avoid using the default settings provided by email service providers out of the box. tone matters as well. If you're known for being conversational or edgy, make your emails the same way. If you're colloquial, be colloquial.

If your brand is BIG and BOLD, your emails should be too. Avoid using the default settings provided by email service providers out of the box. tone matters as well. If you're known for being conversational or edgy, make your emails the same way. If you're colloquial, be colloquial.Before beginning an email, note separately the one takeaway and action you would like subscribers to take. Make sure the intent and ask do not disappear through the creation of your message?

Before beginning an email, note separately the one takeaway and action you would like subscribers to take. Make sure the intent and ask do not disappear through the creation of your message?

Start with a photo. Still struggling? Send an email based on images. Check your email service provider's instructions on how to include text descriptions for images for subscribers who block email images or use a visual reader. If you're still stuck, use a voice recording app or leave yourself a voicemail. The sound of the "beep" might help you start.

Even a steady diet of one's favorite food becomes unappetizing. Mix it up. Improvise. Experiment with length, format, and content.

The days and times you email customers may require refinement.

Dividing your email list and sending targeted messages may increase open rates and ultimately your bottom line.

Use polls and surveys to capture data on subscriber interests. Sponsor contests where names are required fields in order to enter. Depending on your mailing list provider, you may be able to do this within its offering negating the need to collect data elsewhere and then import and merge it with information you have.

Experiment with adding subscriber names in the subject line (yes - even in the subject line), near the start of a message, and throughout the message. Or course, all this depends on your brand's tone and style and the content of the message.

Give consideration to "who" the message is from. A brand? A person? A person working for a brand? If it is from a person, is the person's contact information shared? If someone tries to reply to a message, will the "from:" say "no-reply"? What happens if the person leaves the company?

Personalization also means knowing your subscribers so well that your messages feel personal.

TIP: Instead of thinking about writing an email to your list, think about one person you know well on that list. Write your message for that one individual. Focusing on a person instead of a nebulous group may help.

Quickly reach more subscribers by resending messages to individuals who did not open the initial message after a few days. Monitor open rates and investigate whether segmenting your list and changing when messages are sent make sense.

Stop. Send to them separately. Otherwise your email metrics are not reflective of your subscribers who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. As time allows, you may want to create special messaging in an attempt to re-engage non-openers.

For those that are not opening at all after an extended period of time, remove them from your list, especially if you are paying for services based on the number of email subscribers you have. Large volumes of non-openers has the potential to cause your messages to be marked as spam.

Save time by creating your mailing and social posts together while the wording and themes are fresh in your mind. You may save even more time by utilizing a content calendar and scheduling content in advance.

TIP: Consider embedding your social posts in your emails. Less work for you while offering an opportunity for your subscribers to easily like and share your message. (You may even gain additional social followers.)

More and more messages are read on smaller and smaller screens. Look at the metrics for your list and design appropriately.

Consider teasing out upcoming announcements in your messages. Offer interactive content: quizzes and polls are fun for subscribers while giving you additional information about your readers.

Ask your readers to add your address to their contact list to help keep messages out of spam folders. For subscribers who use gmail, as that they move your messages out of the promotionals tab. (And make sure you are not sending spammy messages either.)

Look for trends too. Was there a significant change in subscribers following a new blog post, advertising campaign, or other external event?

A content calendar can help with this.

This can reflect poorly on your brand. If the quality is not there, maybe the message shouldn't be sent. If it is something urgent, send a text-based e-mail.

Mix it up if this will work with your brand. A text-based e-mail or one that looks different in a meaningful way may catch the eye of readers and prompt them to read a bit more closely.

Don't just create the "perfect" email and send it to subscribers. Take the time to test variations in your subject lines, when messages are sent, key content areas if testing (may be referred to as A/B testing) is available to you. Even if it's not, you can perform simple tests by subdividing your lists and looking at metrics. Be sure to test apples-to-apples. Do a subject line test by sending a message to two groups at the same date and time to eliminate variability introduced by changes in date / time sending.

Have an extra reviewer or a different reviewer to proof and offer feedback on emails can make a difference. There may be grammar errors that are off-putting to some subscribers. An extra reviewer can also double-check links to make sure they go to the correct places.

Options here may vary based on newsletter provider. Do you know if subscribers are taking actions based on your emails?