India has 45M (or whatever) internet users. Most of the Indian Internet users access the Net not daily but monthly, bi-monthly or a weekly basis. For such users Email is the the most important or the default activity when they are on the web. Email marketers in India just look at the overall size of the database and miss the science behind it. The science would require attention to details like active IDs in the database, mail open rate, click through rate, landing page optimization and the final conversion rate.
1. Email is technology : Do you know if your sender email server is blacklisted or has potential to be black listed. Is your email text, html ? Is it easy to read across multiple email systems ? Have you checked the resolution of your email ? Do you know that a single unwanted character has a potential to mess up with the mail delivery or readability ? In case you have never asked these questions to yourself, I recommend reading how to code html mails by MailChimp
2. Email is permission based : And Indian Email-marketers don’t get it. They think it’s their birthright to spam their users. A randomly connected email database will never work for you or cannot be deemed as loyal user base. Email marketing should not be a hit and run campaign and accidental conversions. Email should be a communication to the user on a ongoing basis and the consumer should be looking forward to receiving your mail and open it with due respect. That’s the success. Some more basic fundamentals here
3. Email marketing is not cheating : And again Indian Email marketers don’t get it. Common guys we have been in the British rule for so many years and you mess up with our English ? Exclusive, Lifetime, Discount, Limited Period – all have have some meaning and as Indian consumers we definitely know it. Indians still read their daily newspapers or live in the environment where your outlet is stone throw away. It doesn’t even take them 5 minutes to know that this email from you is completely bogus.
4. It’s about microcopy stupid: And the microcopy begins right from the from & sender line of your email. I am ashamed to say that most of the companies including banks and reputed institutions fail miserably in this. They send the absolute garbage. Infact Nigerian scam mails are much more well written than some mails from top Indian brands and institutions. And I am not kidding. Here are some tips to write microcopy. Though you won’t find much on microcopy and email but they go hand in hand.
- Don’t send an email without your brand name. The subject must be so precise that even without opening the email the user should get your communication and intention of clicking the mail should be yet another click and not the click on the [x] mark . Upon opening the mail, seduce the user in 1 microsecond so that he/she is motivated to read further and be lead towards an action you want him/her to commit.
5. Jpeg is for porn : And not for marketing. Why do Indian marketers still send one single jpeg file as an email. Don’t they know that most (all) web based email systems and desktop based email system require one more click to show an image. I don’t even see a proper alt-ext behind images or text + images so that a user can at least make some sense out of it. Here are some tips on it – using images in email marketing & use email marketing ? ignore the big picture.
6. Oye ? Where’s the call to action yaar ? Never hire a bollywood script writer for your email marketing messages. They put all their writing talent in one single mail hoping for a lifetime achievement award. Audience in movie theatres have paid 300 bucks to suffer for 3 hours. But sorry your email receivers don’t have such patience. Communicate fast, efficiently and clearly what exactly you want the user to do and for what ? A simple example Click here Vs Click here for 20% discount. Know more on emailmarketingtips.com.
7. Crash landing: Ok even with these problems the user managed to do us a favour and land on our landing page. And… he has a great fall. Any email marketing campaign should be in three steps and the landing page is step 2. Without any wishful thinking just imagine a scenario where at each step your success rate is under 10%. 10% at email clicks and 10% of 10% at landing page – what would happen if your user is lost on this page. Maintain the train of value proposition and help the user make his next move. Visit CMSWire, davechaffey.com and b2bemailmarketing.com for more tips.
8. Collect & bond, it’s your ‘relationship’ network : The most important & logical part of Email marketing is to collect the email addresses. And if email IDs are precious, then they should be handled with care and collected with utmost precision. Do not miss an opportunity to get the users subscribed to your list whenever you get an opportunity through point of sale, point of service and so on. Show and prove him how it will offer a great ‘customer experience’ and not just spam.
Further Read on Email Marketing:
- Email Marketing Best Practices on emailaddressmanager.com, mailchimp and marketo.
- Email marketing reports & insights : email-marketing-reports.com, emarketer.com & mailermailer.com
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