Whether it’s an email campaign or a printed direct mail campaign, not all promotional campaigns are created equal. Fortunately, industry experts have shared a handful of simple and free tricks for getting proper attention.
Before crafting that “perfect” email campaign or heading to the post office, keep these five tips in mind.
1. Timing: yep, it’s everything
When an email is sent is nearly as important as how well it’s put together. Emails tend to land the most readers and are least likely to be dragged to the trash on Monday through Thursday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
That’s when people are getting into the office and looking for a distraction before concentrating on the real work. Fridays and weekends are crap shoots, since readers are either gearing up for the weekend or already enjoying it.
Unless an email is about an event scheduled to happen on Saturday night (such as an impromptu concert), stick to the four-day work week, during prime time.
2. Use video marketing
The biggest trend right now in integrated marketing (and email marketing in general) is video marketing. Fewer people are inclined to read much text; the sight of huge blocks of copy can instantly turn a lot of people off.
On the other hand, a short and professional video that utilizes responsive design can do the trick with these folks. Videos offer an alternative to nearly any email, but it’s not as easy to pull together a great video message as a decent email. To ensure top quality, invest in hiring a production company.
3. Prioritize subject lines and greetings
Most people have their emails set so they can view a teaser of each post—usually the first sentence. This means that both the subject line and opening phrases of every email are up for scrutiny.
They’re the meta tags of emails, so this is the crucial point at which most people decide either to open the email or delete it. You want to make sure yours doesn’t read as spam. Utilize a realistic personalization and mention something desirable in both the subject and first sentence of your emails whenever possible.
4. Make it look important
This isn’t to say you should resort to “tricks.” Rather, try to give both snail mail and email the attention they deserve. Everyone instantly recognizes junk email by the glaring marketing tactics, percentages emblazoned across the envelope and the “To current resident” address.
To get mail noticed, make it look reputable as well as important. This means choosing classic designs, veering away from clichéd marketing approaches and making sure it’s properly addressed. Getting someone to open mail is half the battle, so go all-in here.
5. Skip the panic words
Whether with email or snail mail, stamping words like “Urgent!” on the envelope or in the subject line isn’t going to make most people eager to open it. Instead, it reads as spam or, worse, an overdue bill.
Some people mistakenly think panic words will drive people to do just that—panic—and open the mail right away. However, this is setting the stage for a negative experience. The only time panic words should be used is when the situation is truly dire . . . like a bill really is overdue and the electricity is about to be shut off.
Don’t turn to garish fonts, emailing one mass message after another or other techniques that are likely to make the recipients discard it. Everyone knows exactly what kind of electronic messages and snail mail they trash right away or filter toward the spam file.
Look at it from the recipients’ perspective and give them the respect they deserve. To get mail noticed, maintain a professional attitude and put it together the right way. Otherwise, you’re wasting a lot of time and money.
