Email Marketing is Like a First Date

Email marketing is a bit like a first date. You have about two seconds to capture your audience's attention, so your pick-up line better be on-point and your intentions have to be crystal-clear. Having seen my fair share of bad emails (and bad dates), here's my two cents on how to make your email stand out from all the other fish in the sea.

Call to Action
A good call to action will make two things obvious:
   1. What the reader will get out of it
   2. When it needs to be completed by

Audience
Who is your audience? Not every email needs to go to your entire distribution list. If you overload people with promotional messages, they are more likely to unsubscribe. Instead, create lists to send readers targeted information that shows you're listening to their needs.

Remember the phrase 'Above the Fold'
Considering 85% of people who open your email won't actually read it (sorry to bust your bubble, but 'open rate' is just fluff. Check out your 'click thru rate' instead!), your main call to action needs to be visible as soon as the reader opens the email. Don't force people to scroll down!

Subject Line
The shorter, the better. Try for 38-47 characters (5-8 words) or less. Good subject lines include:
   - Catchy questions
   - Numbers
Bad subject lines include:
   - All caps (hello, spam)
   - Excessive symbols / punctuation
   - Something misleading. Sure, you want to capture their attention, but don't lose their trust.

Font
   - In the text body, use a sans serif font for better readability and a more professional appearance.
   - Don't use more than two fonts in one email - it will look cluttered, and your call to action will get lost.
   - Header text should be 22pt
   - Body text should be 11pt

Color
   - Stick to just 2-3 colors in your email (excluding black & white).
   - Match these colors to your branding. Use a hexadecimal value tool (Color Cop or Pipette 4) to capture the exact colors of your company website and use these same colors in your email.

Logo
Make your header 150 pixels tall.

Images
Make all images (including logo) clickable.

Links
   - When including a link, it's not necessary to say 'click here.' In fact, stats show that click thru rates actually go down if you use the word 'click.' Choose a verb or other keyword to hyperlink instead and avoid being redundant.
   - Brand the hyperlink color to match the rest of your email. You'll be amazed at how much cleaner this makes the whole message appear.

Include Social Buttons
Don't even think about forgetting these little guys!

Which of these tips are you already practicing? Are there any you disagree with? I want to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,
Alicia