6 Strategic Tactics to Reach the Inbox

[#1]

6 Strategic Tactics to Reach the Inbox

by Annie Cooley

Consider these 6 ways to create spam proof emails –

Target your audience
When you specifically target segments within your list and craft a message directed to each target’s needs, you have a greater chance of reaching the inbox.  More importantly, your contacts are more engaged and interested than ever and the click through rate and open rate can be significantly lower.

Proper Layout and Design
Pay attention to the way your readers interact with emails. Are your click through rates higher when you add images?  Where are they located and what sort of images are they?  What about plain text?  If done correctly, a plain text email can be far more personal and effective in getting your message across.

Check your Links
Make sure to always double check that your link are working and correct. You would be amazed at how many people send the email with broken links.  What good will your email campaign be if it doesn’t take them to the next step?

Use a Spam Check Tool
Consider a tool like Swiftpage's Spam Check that looks at your email like a spam filter would and will tell you what may be red flags.  Your deliverability will automatically increase when you reduce these red flags.

Test Across Email Clients
Before sending to your list, test how the email campaign appears in Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, etc… Sometimes email clients will show your email differently than others and you want to be able to catch this before you find out half your list uses them.

Whitelist your Email Address
When someone opts-in to your email list make sure to remind them to add your email address to their address book so your emails will not hit the junk folder.  You can add a message using an AutoResponder. Once someone fills out the opt-in survey they will be redirected to a page where you can remind them to whitelist you for guaranteed delivery.

[#2]

Annie - great post with some awesome tips. The only other one I would add, which falls under the first tip, "Target your audience" would be to personalize the message. I find that an e-mail message with the prospect or customer's name at the top, e.g. "Dear Bob," is also more likely to get opens & clicks and is so easy with ACT! E-Marketing and the Mail Merge fields drop in. You can also really boost the personalization if you use more than one field:

What the prospect sees:

"Dear Bob, I just wanted to follow up and see if Alamo County Bank is getting the most from your ACT! 2010 Database. We have worked with several Banking clients lately and have been able to provide them with some significant ROI on their software purchase with some quick-hit training and coaching on using ACT! for new customer acquisition."

What the template says:

Dear [[First Name]], I just wanted to follow up and see if [[Company]] is getting the most from your [[ACT Version]] Database. We have worked with several [[Industry]] clients lately and have been able to provide them with some significant ROI on their software purchase with some quick-hit training and coaching on using ACT! for [[CRM goal]].

Personalization is so easy with ACT! E-Marketing powered by Swiftpage! 

[#3]

Thanks for the feedback Stacy!! You are right....Personalizing your emails definitely adds that extra touch to email communications. I love your example. The mail merge tool is such an easy way to personalize your emails. Thanks for giving ACT! E-marketing a shout out

Have a great week!