E-mail marketing: what you should and shouldn’t do

February 2, 2017

Rick Knutsen

Many people are still getting e-mail marketing wrong. There are a few foolproof things that you should do (and some things that you should avoid at all costs) when sending out e-mail messages. An Internet marketing expert from WSI gives a quick run-down on the do’s and don’ts:

DO: E-mail regularly

You want to make sure that your customers expect regular (but not excessive) communication from you. If you’ve gotten into the habit of sending out a newsletter once a month, don’t skip any months. Keep your e-mail communication consistent.

DON’T: E-mail on weekends

More often than not, people will give their work e-mail addresses instead of their personal e-mail addresses. If you send out an e-mail over the weekend, your message might get bulk-deleted when people get back to work on a Monday morning.

DO: Offer newsworthy information

You don’t have to promote yourself, your products and your people 24/7. Send people information that helps them do business or helps them overcome a problem they’ve been struggling with. E-mail marketing isn’t just about pushing products, it’s about building a relationship with your target market – so it’s a good idea to keep your e-mails balanced and occasionally light and breezy.

DON’T: Send graphic and video-intensive mails

If you’ve got a graphic designer, it’s easy to get carried away when it comes to colors, images, fonts and multimedia. Many e-mail servers, however, will block large newsletters. Make sure your e-mails aren’t too big for the average user. A good idea is to have a small line of text at the top of your e-mail that reads “Struggling to read this e-mail? Read it online here” and then link it directly to an online version of your message (which is hosted on your website).

DO: Have a ‘forward to a friend’ option

Having your message forwarded to a friend is your best-case scenario. Make it easy for people to share your content by including social media share buttons as well as a ‘forward to a friend’ option.

Need help with your e-mail marketing? Contact WSI today!

About the Author

Rick spent 20 years in the insurance industry in finance, primarily developing reporting platforms for B & C stakeholders. His ability to speak to consumers of data (managers and analysts) and translate their needs to programmers led him to start his own digital marketing agency in 2004 to develop data driven solutions for business owners.

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