Email has become one of the most commonly used marketing tools. It’s virtually free to use, and nearly everyone has an email account. Unfortunately, if your agency isn’t careful, your email missives may be ending up in the junk mail box, having never been read. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are 3 ways to avoid the junk mail box.
1. Practice Opt-In
It isn’t enough for a visitor to merely sign up on your website to receive your emails, especially if you have a pop up box that practically forces them to in order to proceed. By the time your visitor finishes browsing the web, fighting commuter traffic and eating supper, their sign-up is a faded memory.
A better way to gain—and keep—email subscribers is to practice opt-in strategies. Your first email to them should remind them that they subscribed. Ask them to confirm their subscription by clicking on the link in the email. This not only helps you prune out the subscribers who didn’t really mean to sign up; it also subtly helps to solidify their relationship with your website in their mind. By the way, let them know they will need to confirm their subscription when they first sign up. That way, they can look for your first email.
2. Identify Yourself
Many people send email to junk automatically because they don’t know who it’s from. You’ve got to have an email responder that will allow you to customize the ‘from” field. If your website business is called Joe’s Audio and your emails go out from something called, for example, Mail Direct, or Car Sites, your subscribers aren’t going to recognize you and they likely won’t put two and two together. It’s not even the best idea to have your email from labeled “Support blank.” The word support is one of the most common email monikers, and nothing about it identifies your company.
A better option is to make your emails come from the name of your site. If Joe’s Audio sends an email, your customers will remember that they visited them this morning. Incidentally, in your emails, always remind people to add Joe’s Audio to their safe sender list. Even if their spam filter is set to astronomical, your email will get safely through.
3. Be a Good Subject.
So now your subscribers are opted-in, you’ve identified yourself properly, and you’ve made it onto the Dean’s List safe sender’s list. But for some reason, you’re still not getting a good response rate. Could it be because your subject line is boring? Yes. Subject lines are the equivalent of book covers. It’s what gets people to open you up. Boring subject lines, even if your subscribers recognize your emails, will get you sent to the junk bucket.
Your subject line should be enticing, provocative and urgent. It should make the recipient so curious as to what you have to say, that they can’t wait to click to open. Here are some juicy examples:
- “Never Wash Your Car With This”
- “Get Better Audio With This Neat Trick”
- “The Hidden Danger in Your Woofer”
See? Don’t you just want to know what those emails say? Your subscribers will, too. Use these tips and your marketing emails will never see the bottom of a junk mail box again.
