Do you wish that your emails had more of an impact on your readers? Do you want more of your readers to respond pro-actively? To click those links, to view those recommended sites, to buy those products?

Or………are have you fallen into the trap of thinking that you just need to keep in touch, “they probably won’t read it anyway so let’s just cobble something together?”

If yours is the latter, you are missing a potential Goldmine!

Either way, read on and find out how to increase the return on your investment :

First we need to agree that the time spent creating a Professional Looking newsletter is never wasted. Something bright and interesting has more chance of keeping the reader’s attention until they arrive at that all important call to action.

Some ‘amateur’ email marketers remain amateurs. They never grow into professional winners or even experience an increase in return on investment because they don’t bother with the small things. An amateur sends a dull looking newsletter and/or campaign as “I’ve got to get it out today” and can’t be bothered to check their stats or improve on anything because it’s “just a quick newsletter”.

With a little more attention and effort to improve your email campaigns, email marketing success, and that illusive increase in the return on your investment, is just around the corner.

Pro email marketers spend a large proportion of their time researching and implementing new trends and features. They stay on top of the internet game by researching, being creative, keeping an open mind and they are aware of the need to check their deliverability, stats and bounced rates to see where and how they can improve their email campaign. When you go pro you'll find your eflyers, promotional campaigns and newsletters will positively affect your company brand.

So, how do you turn pro and lose your amateur status? You follow a few basic guidelines as set out below, you learn some new skills and you brush up on the old ones!

1) Use Newsletter templates that reflect your brand

Whether you choose to design a newsletter from scratch; or prefer to modify it from an email newsletter template you have chosen, it is vitally important that it reflects your company brand. Keep the colours and layout aligned to your company logo- it’s good practice to also have the look-and-feel of your current website. Consistency is what builds brand recognition. Also, when it comes to what your user wants and expects, think laterally. For example, if I want financial advice, I expect accuracy; a funky pink newsletter with broken links or an email newsletter everything misaligned is not going to impress me. Financial institutions have to be taken seriously, to project a look that reflects stability and organised security. So, think beyond what you want to say, think about your readership and how they will perceive you as they view the full layout of your message. Consider going for simple conservative colours and a geometric layout to convey your credibility within your industry. Colours and layout can have a tremendous impact on what potential subscribers think of your company!

2) Ensure you have text and html formats

Keep your text short and to the point. No one wants to wade through pages of unimportant information. As certain email browsers won’t be able to read images, make sure that your most important information is text - not an image. When you design your email newsletter be sure to have both a text and HTML format. Cover all your bases. 

3) Images and layout

It is better to go for a simple layout which allows people to scan for the information they need. I don't want to have to search for information in a confusing layout - slap me in the face with it - short and quick! Embed the images in your newsletter so that subscribers don’t have to open attachments and make sure, when choosing images or icons that they actually relate to the content of your newsletter. Remember - Less is more!

4) A clear call to action

Upon receiving your newsletter your readers must know what you expect them do. Which link must they click on to purchase a product? Tell each reader what to do, make the steps clear and easy to follow. Be organised with your sends, have a specific date to send out your monthly newsletter and stick to that send date. It tells your subscribers that you are reliable and organised. People in the internet world like to be told what to do and how to do it. Too much freedom of choice scares and confuses us. Reliability and simplicity are key.

5) Test and preview

That broken image in the corner of your newsletter will get noticed. There is always someone that notices your spelling errors and that kaleidoscope of link colors! Don't think that anything will escape unnoticed. Pro email marketers preview and test their email campaigns.  Always send yourself a test email before sending it to your subscribers!

6) Opt-in, spam and subscriber information

It is unethical to send an email campaign to email addresses that have not signed up to receive your newsletter. You run the risk of being branded as a spammer, and spammers are deeply frowned upon. Signing up to receive an email newsletter is called the “opt-in” process and a pro email marketer will always have legitimate sign ups – and will always have an “unsubscribe” button at the footer of their newsletters; giving readers the option to unsubscribe ( opt-out).

Let's delve further into the subscriber sign ups. Having subscribers opted-in to receive your newsletters is all very well, but what if, for example, you have a promotion which would be most beneficial to woman between the ages of 24 – 40; how would you achieve this if you don't have that information on file? This clearly highlights the need to think carefully beforehand about the information you should obtain from your subscribers – consider future campaigns that you may want to implement.

We have a very useful tool titled customer list segmentation, which allows users to target a segmented group of clients with a specific profile. You set the profile based on your chosen, specific criteria (demographics, geographic location etc.). The tool can only be used if you are able to refer to a range of information extracted from your subscribers; so, once again - plan what you may want and what you may need from your email campaign! To fail to plan is to plan to fail.

7) List cleansing

Are you certain that all those readers who subscribed to your newsletter four years ago are still interested in your company and your products? Maybe the person with that email address has moved to another company and/or maybe their interests have change. One way to improve your open rate is to invite your readers to subscribe again, or if your subscribers have not opened, say the last four or five of your newsletters, check with them and see if they still want to receive your newsletter and if not, delete their email address altogether!

8) Check your statistics

Keep up-to-date with your statistics, your open rates and your click throughs. Spend some useful time thinking laterally about the possible reasons that your newsletters aren’t being opened. Did you send it to subscribers who were away (during the school holidays)? Do you send it on the best day of the week and/or the best time of day to give your subscribers the best chance to read it? Is your product only suitable for a certain sector of your subscribers? Keep researching and keep tweaking that email newsletter!

It's up to you - do you want to become a pro email marketer or forever remain an amateur? 

Remember :

TO FAIL TO PLAN IS TO PLAN TO FAIL!!

Email marketing is the most common and cost-effective way companies use to promote their products and services. However some companies don’t realise that sending newsletters or email publications is simply not enough. In order to achieve a high success rate, you have to have the right tools, strategy and marketing reports to go with your simple email.

Unfortunately, some companies still commit these five common email marketing mistakes:

Unsolicited Email

Nothing annoys people more than getting newsletters or advertisement emails without their permission. Make sure that you use an email service that allows you to have a double opt in for new subscribers. In this way, you avoid miscommunication with subscribers.

Weak Subject Line

As we very well know, first impressions last. So it is crucial to have a solid subject title in order to encourage recipients to open and read your whole email. This is where good marketing background comes in handy. It’s like creating a tagline for your new advertisement; it should be good enough to have an impact to the audience and encourage them to listen to everything you have to say. This does not mean the use of full capital letters, this, although more noticable in the inbox will actually reduce the chances of it ever reaching the recipient's inbox as it will potentially be identified as spam

Overly Showy Newsletter

While HTML email marketing brings life and color to your newsletter, it can also distract readers if not creatively and neatly done. Make sure to keep your design at a minimum level. A header graphic, bold headings and sub-headings, a sidebar with a few graphics is ok, but 100% images is overkill.

Ignoring the essence of Time

“…Sometimes, right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing” an author once said. This especially holds true in the world of email marketing. Some people think that the more newsletters you send the more chances of getting the attention of the prospective client. But with bulk email marketing, most of the time, the opposite happens since people usually get annoyed at receiving advertisement on a daily basis.

Your ultimate goal is to give your customers the right message, and this means giving it to them when they have the time to read and understand your message.

If you feel you have something interesting to say to your subscribers on a daily basis then offer them the option to subscribe to the frequency of mailing that they prefer - daily, weekly, bi-weekly or just monthly

Quality over Quantity

People subscribe to newsletter and other email publications to get viable information on things that are relevant to them and of great use. Therefore, it is important to provide up-to-date, unique information that entices them to read your emails.

It’s okay to commit mistakes as long as you realise it soon enough to correct them. Like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. So as long as you stick to your goals, you will be able to create a good email marketing campaign.