Email blasts (e-blasts) can be highly effective, as long as all the essential elements are included. Companies wanting to take advantage of the benefits of inbound marketing should occasionally review the e-blast best practices to ensure the messages going out solicit the reaction from readers that’s desired.
What is an e-blast?
First things first, an e-blast is a message that’s part of a marketing campaign. These campaigns are designed to convey information or lead to sales or donations. Awareness is a big part of any marketing campaign. E-blasts increase awareness about the product or services a company is trying to sell. An email blast can be sent to the entire contact list at one time. Certain groups can also be selected for an email blast. Essentially, e-blasts are effective marketing tools that can be used by organizations.
What goes in an e-blast?
E-blasts should contain essential information such as the topic of the discussion. The email line should give recipients a clear view of the purpose of the email. The email topic line should compel the reader to open the email. If the email contains a promotional deal, this can be promoted to entice the recipient to learn more. Companies may present new products, raise awareness about a condition or offer tips in an e-blast.
Email marketing campaigns often involve the use of e-blast management tools such as Constant Contact, AWeber or iContact. Management tools and CAN-SPAM compliance are considerations that must be considered prior to launching an email blast. An opt-out message should also be included in the email. These tools should have the capability to track the success of messages sent out to every recipient. This can help people modify the content of the e-blast to be more effective.
With these tools, thousands of people can receive information from companies simultaneously. Some of the messages can be complete with links that tell the sender when the e-blast was opened or how many people clicked on the links within the message. Knowing how many people opened the message will provide insight into the effectiveness of the purpose of the message.
An e-blast is deemed successful if it reaches people who are interested and who will act on the information provided. If best practices are followed, the e-blast will not be placed in the SPAM box. For instance, excessive punctuation should not be used in the purpose line or the e-blast may be sent directly to the recipient’s SPAM box. The company’s name must also be clearly marked.
E-blasts must always have a call to action that’s clear and entices users to click or buy a product. Do not use too many images. Images require more memory and bandwidth. It could take longer to open, or the email service provider may block the message entirely. The images may also appear grainy. This can deter people from reading the messages.
Photo courtesy: thonshopping.no
