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5.28. General eMarketing Tips and Etiquette
Updated 03.12.19
At NewPanda, we not only encourage our members to be good eMarketing citizens, we pretty much require it. That's because poorly designed eMessages sent by one user can potentially affect all of our users. We do everything in our power to ensure that doesn't happen, including suspending services for users that violate our Terms of Use or send too many "spammy" eMessages.
First, please familiarize yourself with the Federal Can-Spam Act of 2003. You need to know the rules, because if you break them, we'll have to suspend or terminate your services.
Next, here are some great tips and tricks for making the most of your email marketing efforts AND keeping your Spam reports and unsubscribes low:
Subject Line: Let's face it, spammy subject lines are like the kiss of death for your eMessage. First, your eMessage may just not even get opened. Second, the recipient may open the eMessage just to unsubscribe. Third and worst of all, it could land your eMessage in the recipient's Spam folder and they'll never even see it. That means WE have to unsubscribe them for you, AND it drives up your (and OUR) Spam complaint rate. So.....
1. Catch phrases like "limited time," "hurry," "act now," "don't miss this opportunity," "special
sale" "unique offer" and the like in your subject line are spammy. And distracting. What is
your message really about? Tell the recipient, and do it in as few words as possible.
2. DON'T USE ALL CAPS, PEOPLE! It's WAY spammy. And it's considered rude in the email
community. Some email programs actually just automatically "junk" eMessages where the
subject line is in ALL CAPS.
3. Don't! Use!! Exclamation ! ! ! Points! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! They're spammy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
4. Don't bait and switch. Don't make your subject line about one thing and then your message
about another. That's a quick way to frustrate recipients and get them to click Unsubscribe Link!
Content: If your message looks or sounds "spammy", it's going to get put in the recipient's Spam folder (either by a filter or by the recipient themselves), or the recipient may outright unsubscribe.
1. Don't use 643 images in your message. Use appropriate images, but don't go overboard either
in size or quantity. Most Spam filters actually look at the image-to-text ratio in your message.
If there's a lot more image space than text, you have a relatively good chance of NOT making it
to your recipients' Inboxes.
2. Never send a message that's just an image. Even if it's an image of words. Why?
a. Because Spam filters can't "read" images, so they think any message that contains
just an image or images is a SPAMmer trying to get past the SPAM filter. They will
block any message they can't read. Can you say "Backfire?"
b. Because some recipients' email programs will block images, and then all they see is a
little red x. That creates an unsatisfying experience for your recipients and can
affect your unsubscribe rates.
Spam filters like to see a good balance of text and image content in HTML emails. If you send
a campaign that contains image only content, it will have a really hard time getting past most
spam filters. We suggest that you add a paragraph or two of text to your HTML version of your
campaign (outside of the image, text embedded in an image won't count) to help lower your
spam filter score.
Also, be sure to limit the number and size of images you include. Sure, it's okay to have
several, including a large header or main image for impact, but your email should not exceed
around 600 pixels wide, whenever possible. (For more information, see our
helpful page on What affects my unsubscribe rates?)
3. Don't use 327 text colors in your message. They're spammy!
4. Don't even bother trying to embed a video in your message. It won't make it to the
recipient's Inbox; it will be stripped by their email program and your recipients will
receive a blank message. More info here.
5. Test your hyperlinks. Send yourself a test message and click the link(s). Do they work?
Sending eMessages with broken links or image paths can really hurt your credibility and your
image with your recipieints.
6. Make sure your content is relevant to your Subject Line (and vice versa). Otherwise your
recipients will feel they're being taken advantage of.
7. Your recipients are busy, so be concise. Get to the point quickly and be all done. On
average, recipients will spend about six seconds on your message, and that's how long
you have to say whatever it is you need to say or give them a reason to keep reading. If
you finally get around to the reason for your message in your 5th paragraph, you can pretty
much count on a high spam complaint and/or unsubscribe rate, and a low response rate.
8. Keep the information in your message relevant to the time period for which it applies. You'll
have shorter, easier-to-read messages, with information the recipient can use right now.
Over time, you'll build anticipation for your "next message" with good looking, timely,
applicable content that's not overwhelming or boring. And your recipients will appreciate it.
9. Certain phrases or words in your message body can get your message Spam filtered. Some
Spam filters look for "Dear <FirstName> in your message. As long as you don't have anything
else too spammy, the word "Dear" shouldn't land your message in the Spam folder, but if you
have additional iffy content, like the word Oprah (nope, we're not kidding), bad text-to-image
ratio, etc., you're probably not going to make it to the Inbox. Consider using "Hi <FirstName>",
"Hello!" or some other salutation. Or just the FirstName!
1. Test, re-test and then test again if you are writing your own HTML code or if someone other
than NewPanda wrote it for you. (No, we don't write custom HTML code, we're just making a
point here.) Send your message to the test accounts you've created in all the different email
clients like AOL, GMail, Yahoo, Comcast, MSN, Hotmail, and every other one you can think of,
to see how your message looks in each. Sending a message that doesn't look good, or worse,
one that looks downright awful, is a great way to get your recipients to click the Unsubscribe
Link.
2. Don't use JavaScript in HTML email. Period. We can't stress this enough. Almost all email
applications block JavaScript in order to prevent viruses. If you have copied HTML from a web
page to use as an email, REMOVE THE JAVASCRIPT.
3. Don't create your HTML code in Microsoft Word and then export it to HTML. It creates sloppy
code, and SPAM filters look for it in order to STOP IT.
Frequency:
1. If your recipients haven't heard from you in a while (or EVER), PLEASE consider sending a
"warmup" or "reminder" message before your actual message or campaign. Here's how:
- First, remind them of how you got their email address in the first six seconds they spend reading your email, or that's all the time they may spend reading it.
- Then tell them why you are emailing them now and why that's important. (This is the part where you talk BRIEFLY about your product, service, idea, offer, etc!)
- Next, tell them how often you plan to email them in the future, and for what purpose.
- Then tell them about the handy, dandy Unsubscribe link at the bottom of your message and every message you will send them, just in case they changed their mind about wanting to hear from you or their needs have changed.
- Then (this is the hard part) - wait a while, like two weeks in case anyone was on vacation or in the hospital when you sent your message, to let the dust settle and see what kind of opens, bounces and unsubscribes you get.
- Now, clean up your list accordingly. Yes, it's a chore. But it's important. Update or remove the bounces.
- THEN plan your real message in another few weeks so as not to overwhelm. This may take a little extra "planning ahead" time and push your project start-date forward a bit, but it will be well worth it to re-introduce yourself and show your recipients that you respect them (as well as keeping your spam reports down!!).
- You can download a sample WarmUp eMessage from the DOWNLOADS section below. Create a text-only message with your NewPanda tools, copy and paste the verbiage from the .txt file, fill in the blanks, and send!
We found an awesome resource to help you understand and maximize your email marketing
efforts. Check it out.
2. Maybe you have an opt-in list that signed up to receive a daily, weekly, bi-weekly or some
other frequency of message from you. But for messages other than those where the recipient
expects to hear from you at a specific frequency, if you just emailed your list or group yesterday
or even last week, are you sure you need to email them again right now? Really sure? Unless
it's a really good message, like with a $50 coupon inside or something, I don't want to get
emails from my bakery or dentist or vet every week, or even every other week. I just don't.
3. The key is to consider carefully how often each of your groups or lists should (or WANTS TO) hear
from you, and proceed accordingly. There's no "one size fits all" in email marketing. Once you've
identified the proper marketing frequency you can:
- Better target your messages, making them more timely and applicable
- Enjoy lower Unsubscribe rates
- Bask in higher readership (= LOYALTY) rates
- Even experience increased response rates (depending on your message or offer)!
Test all eMessages before sending them to your live list.
1. Sending eMessages with incorrect image paths or URL paths is a quick way to frustrate your
recipients and make them think poorly of you. And reach for the Unsubscribe button.
2. eMessages that contain grammatical or spelling errors can also leave recipients with a
negative impression. Be sure to spell-check and preview your eMessages, as well as
thoroughly combing your test messages for obvious mistakes.
3. eMessages may look great in one Internet Browser or Email Application, but not another.
Be sure to test your messages in different Internet Browsers and Email Applications to be
sure everything looks and works as it should.
See more information on Spam and Abuse topics.
Want more eMarketing advice? Check out the Email Yogi's 12 Absolutes for eMarketing Success!