I get separation anxiety if my mobile phone isn’t hooked to my body or within arms reach, and the data seems to indicate that I’m not the only one. Perhaps my favorite study of late, conducted by AOL, indicates that people who use mobile devices to check email exhibit almost compulsive-like tendencies. According to the study (in 2007):
- 59% are checking email in bed while in their pajamas
- 53% are checking email in the bathroom
- 37% are checking email while they drive
- 12% are checking email in church
The million-dollar question is whether people who check their email constantly on mobile devices will contribute to a higher conversion rate when you create email campaigns specifically tailored to their device and their behavior. My internal research tells me that consumers are only checking email on mobile devices so they can decide which emails to deal with immediately, and which emails are better addressed in front of a computer at a later time.
This kind of ‘prioritization’ behavior doesn’t compel me to advise an overhaul of your email marketing strategy, unless you can make every message and call-to-action so concise, and your click-through purchasing process so easy, that your audience would rather act on your mobile email’s call-to-action immediately instead of waiting for a richer experience in front of a computer later.
That being said, I’ve been experimenting with mobile emails, and I’m finding that some campaigns and calls-to-action actually work well when delivered to mobile devices. You’ll have to wait for another blog entry for those results. If you’re signed up for my email list you’ll see them first.
Until then, it will serve you well to start learning about mobile email, SMS, MMS, IVR, and WAP. The time will come when combining a mobile email strategy with the strategy you’re used to now will make sense all day long.
John Arnold is the Author of Email Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact University.
Ok… awe-inspiring is probably shooting for the moon. But the following advice can help you become uncommonly effective, because there are certain subject line characteristics that consumers will almost always respond to.
According to Jupiter Research, 35 percent of email users open their emails because of the words in the subject lines of the emails they receive. Since the average consumer reads over 300 subject lines per week, your subject lines have to be extra special to get noticed. So, how is your email going to stand out in the inbox? Give your subject lines one or more of the following 5 characteristics and you’re likely to draw more attention to your emails.
- Short phrases. How short? Two words. That’s right. I’ll explain. Your subject lines can be longer than two words, but Email heat maps indicate that most consumers are so time crunched that they only read the first two words of a sentence before they decide to read the entire sentence or jump to another part of your email! Make sure the first two words begin with your point. For example, instead of Everything in our store is on sale until Friday, try Store-wide sale ends Friday. Or, instead of The top 10 places to play golf, try Golf: 10 best places to play.
- Immediate benefits. Convincing your audience that your email is valuable isn’t always enough because it’s better if you can convince them that your email is even more valuable if opened immediately. For example, the aforementioned golf subject line might be stronger by adding an element of time as in Golf: this weekend’s 10 best places to play.
- Value words. Value words are personally relevant to your audience. For example, golfers consider any words related to golf as more valuable than other words. For example, a golf equipment store or golf vacation planner will draw more attention when using words like hole-in-one, fairway, clubhouse, par, chip-shot, or driving range. Value words can be used literally or figuratively. Try an analogous subject line.
- Emotional appeal. Most purchase decisions are emotionally motivated on some level. Write your subject lines toward passion or away from pain to generate emotional appeal. For example, Golf your stress away next week at our newest resort moves away from pain while Golf your way to a promotion at our VIP event moves toward passion.
- Specific value propositions. Be specific when describing the main benefit of your email’s offer the subject line. For yet another golf example, Tee shots 20 yards longer - guaranteed is a better choice than New titanium drivers on sale because the former subject line describes the value of the offer instead of just describing the offer.
John Arnold is the author of E-Mail Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact University.
Here’s Part IV of this 5-part series covering the 5 most common consumer spam-complaint-triggers and how to avoid accidentally pulling them. To see all the articles in the series to date, go to the archive page.
Trigger #5: Confusion & Illusion
Sometimes consumers just click the spam button because they aren’t thinking or don’t know what else to do. A few spam complaints are inevitable simply because consumer behavior isn’t something you can entirely control. Here are three reasons why consumers might choose the spam button over more forgiving options.
- Your subscriber can’t figure out how to unsubscribe. If your audience has trouble finding the unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email, use a permission reminder at the top of your email that includes the link.
- Your subscriber doesn’t trust the unsubscribe link in your email. Spammers who include dubious unsubscribe links in their emails have violated the trust between some consumers and legitimate emailers. Use your signup process and welcome email to reinforce the ability to safely unsubscribe from your list by clicking the unsubscribe link in any of your emails, and make sure your email looks familiar to reinforce trust. (see Trigger #1)
- Your subscriber accidentally clicks the spam button. Sometimes the mouse seems to click the wrong area of the screen or the subscriber unintentionally selects the checkbox next to your email while bulking lots of spam emails together. Fortunately, this is a relatively rare occurrence because there isn’t much you can do about it when it happens, unless the subscriber contacts you to re-subscribe.
While it may not be possible to take the sting out of receiving a spam complaint, it is possible to minimize the amount of complaints you receive. Stick to permission-based tactics and remember that your customers probably still like you, even when it appears that they don’t want your emails.
John Arnold is the author of Email Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact’s Local Expert Program.
Here’s Part IV of this 5-part series covering the 5 most common consumer spam-complaint-triggers and how to avoid accidentally pulling them. To see all the articles in the series to date, go to the archive page.
Trigger #4: Excessive Promotion
Selling more than enough of your products or services to stay in business is an important part of your email marketing strategy, but according to a Jupiter Research survey, 40% of consumers said they stopped subscribing to opt-in emails because they were getting too many offers. Too many offers might lead to spam complaints if you don’t strike a balance between the preferences of your audience and your promotional frequency.
- Keep your promotional frequency in line with your average sales cycle and business model. If your business is known as the discount choice among the competition, your audience is probably more promotion-tolerant than if your business is positioned as delivering higher quality and service. If you sell items that are consumed quickly, your audience probably expects more frequent promotions than if you sell items that are normally purchased every few months, years, or once in a lifetime.
- Place promotions on your website and use informative email content to drive clicks. For example, instead of putting an entire article and a promotion in your email newsletter, use only the first two or three sentences in your email, and post the rest of the article, and a related promotion, on your website. That way, your audience isn’t exposed to your promotional content until they are interested enough in a specific topic to click for more information.
- Know your audience’s promotional preferences. Some consumers love coupons, sales, and discounts. Others believe that sales items are defective or inferior. If your audience is made up of the latter, they won’t tolerate as many promotions as audiences made up of so-called “discount shoppers.” If you’re not sure of your audience’s promotional preferences, use a survey, a poll, or a choice of interest lists to sort your subscribers into groups.
John Arnold is the author of Email Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact’s Local Expert Program.
Here’s Part III of this 5-part series covering the 5 most common consumer spam-complaint-triggers and how to avoid accidentally pulling them. To see all the articles in the series to date, go to the archive page.
Trigger #3: Broken Promises
When people share their email address with you, they trust you to use it in accordance with their expectations. For example, if someone shares her email address during a purchase in order to receive a shipping confirmation, she isn’t likely to appreciate a bunch of ongoing promotions. Give your subscribers clear expectations before they share their email address, then stick to your promises.
- Tell your new subscribers exactly what you’re going to send. Clearly describe each list you offer and use Constant Contact’s Archive Feature to include a ‘view sample’ link next to your signup link. That way, people can see what your emails look like.
- Send a welcome email after a new subscriber joins. Make sure your welcome email clearly describes the email content you plan to send. You can also include an Archive link pointing to your most recent email in the welcome email to reinforce your content description.
- Send only the content your subscribers sign up to receive. If your subscribers join in order to receive an informative newsletter, don’t send separate promotions, announcements, or event invitations unless your subscribers also choose to be on the lists associated with those kinds of communications.
John Arnold is the author of Email Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact’s Local Expert Program.
