20 Best Practices Email

In a recession, when many companies are tightening their budgets, more
marketers are turning to email for their marketing efforts. According to a
Marketing Sherpa survey, 48% of marketers plan to increase their email
RELEVANCY & marketing efforts in 2009.
REPUTATION
This is both good and bad news. As marketers move away from more expensive,
With all the nuances of effective less trackable tactics, the competition to get your content viewed and acted
email marketing, it may seem upon becomes even fiercer. You have to be at the top of your marketing game
challenging to find a place to to cut through that inbox clutter.
focus your efforts. To make it a
little easier: Focus on relevancy To add to the challenge, experts agree that higher volumes of email in
and reputation. Above all 2009—from all sorts of sources—will result in slightly depressed metrics like
other things discussed here, open rates, click throughs and conversions.
spending time to create relevant
content and protect your sender Below is a summary of the 20 key points that will enhance your email marketing
reputation will pay you back big efforts. While this list may seem overwhelming, don’t be intimidated. Not every
dividends in regard to opens, email marketer is doing everything on this list but the more you do, the better
clicks, and conversions. the results.

1 BE RELEVANT
CONTENT This is, perhaps, the most over-used term in email marketing today—but there’s
no doubt that it’s the most critical, especially given the current email landscape.
The more relevant—meaning the right message to the right person at the right
time—the higher your returns. If you only do one thing, do this.

2 DESIGN FOR THE PREVIEW PANE
Since a reported 84% of 18-34 year-olds view email in the preview pane, you
have no more than a few seconds and 3-4” of viewable space to grab a reader’s
attention. In that time—and space—you must provide clear, attention-grabbing
content that compels action. An additional good practice is to also include a
link allowing the recipient to view the email in their web browser. When done
correctly, the web version will have all the same functionality, including any
personalization and dynamic content, as your original message. Supplying this
web link also enables those viewing your message on a handheld device to
properly see your email content.

3 SHOW ME YOU KNOW ME
Studies show that personalizing your email garners higher conversions. On its
most basic level, personalization includes greeting the recipient by name in
the salutation or subject line. But in this competitive environment that level
of personalization does very little to get your message read. Effective use of
dynamic content or specific offers based on user-defined preferences shows a
recipient that you know his/her areas of interest, purchase preferences, and
geographic location, leading to a more relevant message and contributing to
better conversions.

www.realmagnet.com
2
sales@realmagnet.com • 301.652.4025
Copyright ©. Real Magnet, LLC. All rights reserved.

4 DO
DO
DON’T BE HTML-CENTRIC/DESIGN FOR IMAGE BLOCKING
It
It
It’s important to create both HTML and text versions of your email messages.
Why? Having only an HTML message with no text alternative could get you
penalized by SPAM filters, potentially impacting your deliverability and,
ultimately, the ability to get your message into inboxes. And remember, some
email clients are configured to only display the text portion of your message.
Additionally, be careful not to make your message image-heavy. Many email
services block images by default so your beautifully designed, image-heavy
email could end up looking like a blank page with a bunch of red Xs—broken
image icons.

5 SH
SH
SHORTER IS BETTER (FOR SUBJECT LINES)
W
When deciding whether to open your message or not, recipients primarily look
at two things—the ‘from’ field and the subject line. When crafting the subject
line it’s important to know that most email providers show only the first 30-40
characters of your subject line in the inbox. That means you only have about 35
characters to make your point and compel the recipient to open your email. Use
them effectively.

6 **
***DON’T SCREAM!!!***
*
O
Overuse of punctuation or capitalization (the “screaming” headline) could cause
your email to be sent to SPAM or junk folders rather than the inbox. You want
to draw attention to your message—but don’t go overboard or you’ll draw the
attention of SPAM filters instead of your recipients.

www.realmagnet.com
3

7 BE
BE FREE FROM ATTACHMENTS
M
Most computer viruses are transmitted via email attachments and therefore
some ﬁlters will automatically block emails with attachments. A better practice
is to include a link to any content you’d otherwise consider an attachment. Links
are trackable, so you’ll know just how engaging your content is by how many
people click your link.

GO
GO MOBILE
8 T
The emergence of smart phones like BlackBerrys and iPhones has changed how
people read email. According to one survey, 60% of emails will not be viewed
in a traditional email inbox. The good news is that smart phone technology is
catching up to computer technology meaning you don’t have to worry (as much)
about how your email will render on handheld devices and can loosen some of
the previous design constraints.

LIST MANAGEMENT GE
GET PERMISSION!
9 T best practice is to send only opt-in, permission-based emails. This leads
The
to higher conversion rates and a better mail sender reputation. Consequently,
you’ll have higher recipient involvement in your messages and low complaint
rates. Not getting recipient permission erodes your reputation, which, in turn,
could impact your ability to get messages to the recipients who are most likely
to act on your message.

10 EASY OUTSeasy for recipients to opt out of your messages as it is to opt in. Your
EA
EA
M
Make it as
unsubscribe process needs to be straightforward for your recipients—both in
terms of the process and their ultimate understanding about what they are
unsubscribing from (especially if you have multiple subscription options). If
you are uncertain about a recipient’s unsubscribe intentions, err on the side of
caution. Annoyed former-subscribers could lead to SPAM complaints which can
jeopardize your sender reputation.

SE
SEGMENTATION SELLS
11 M
More segmented lists almost always lead to higher open and click through
rates. This doesn’t mean just sending your emails in groups of fewer recipients,
it means creating more targeted lists. Need to collect data on your recipients?
Here are some solid data acquisition tactics:
• Creating subscription pages where subscribers can choose content or
frequency preferences
• Culling your database system for logical patterns among your
subscribers or members
• Assessing data gathered from analytic tools, conference or event
attendance, or purchasing behaviors

www.realmagnet.com
4

12 SUPPRESS YOUR “USER UNKNOWNS”
S
T
Take an active role in bounce management, the practice of assessing and acting
upon the emails that bounce back after you send your message. The most
important of all the bounce categories is “User Not Found/User Unknown”—
addresses that are returned as fatal delivery errors since the user doesn’t exist
at the domain. Since this group requires special attention, develop a solid
process for removing these addresses from your distribution list(s) immediately.
Continuing to send to bad addresses could depress your key metrics and damage
your sender reputation.

13 M
MONITOR SPAM COMPLAINTS
Apply to be a part of feedback loops with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which
notify you when someone reports your message as SPAM. Once notified, you
must act on this information and have a process in place for suppressing these
recipients so they no longer receive your messages.

14 IIN
INTEGRATE
N
Identify the different data collection points in your business processes—CRM,
financial systems, analytical tools (such as Google Analytics or WebTrends)—
and use this information to enhance the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.
Having a 360˚ view of your data will increase your email marketing success.

DELIVERABILITY 15 R
REPUTATION IS EVERYTHING
This can’t be stressed enough: Your sender reputation impacts your
T
organization’s ability to get a message delivered to your target’s email inbox.
A good sender reputation is defined by sending frequent emails at sufficient
volumes with low complaint rates and low “User Unknown” rates. Your email
sender reputation is akin to your personal credit score—the higher the score,
the more preferential treatment you get.

16 B
BE COMPLIANT
The CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and
Marketing) Act is a series of laws governing the distribution of “commercial”
email. At its most basic, CAN-SPAM requires you to:
• Display the sender’s physical address
• Have truthful subject lines which don’t mislead the recipient
• Supply a functioning opt-out link in each message, and
• Plainly label that the commercial message is an advertisement
There are many nuances to The CAN-SPAM Act and its application varies based
on the type of email your organization sends. For details on how The CAN-SPAM
Act specifically applies to your organization’s emails, consult an attorney.

17 G
GET WHITELISTED
T
To increase the likelihood of getting your email being delivered, request
whitelisting through major ISPs like Yahoo!, Hotmail and Gmail. Your ESP or in-
house email administrator should be able to help you with this. It is also critical
to ask your recipients to add your “from” field to their safe sender list.

www.realmagnet.com
5

18 BECOME CERTIFIED
B
There are a number of certification services that can help improve deliverability,
T
CERTIFICATION including:
• Sender Score Certified™ (http://www.senderscorecertified.com)
SERVICES • Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail™
(http://www.goodmailsystems.com/products/certified-email/)
These services require you
• Return Path SafeList
to complete an application
(http://www.returnpath.net/commercialsender/safelist/)
process—and not every
sender will ultimately
19 BE AUTHENTIC have the proper authentication protocols in place. Through the
B
qualify—but it’s worth
the effort. E
Ensure that you
use of domain keys, reverse DNS, and sender ID, ISPs see you as a legitimate
sender.

20 TEST!critical, but overlooked, element of email marketing takes relatively little
T
T
This
effort, but goes a long way to making sure your email arrives in your recipient’s
inbox the way you intended.
Before sending your message, make sure to:
• Check to see that all links and images work
• Run your message through a SPAM checker
• View your message in various email programs since emails can render
differently
Additional test options can also lift your opens, click throughs, and conversions
so take the time to A/B test:
• Subject lines
• From fields
• Content
• Personalization
• Design

www.realmagnet.com
6

BEST PRACTICES IN USE

1
2
4 3
5
6

This is the view of an email—using preview panes and in a minimized window—with images on. Look at the subtle,
yet important, aspects of this email:

S
Subject line states who the newsletter is from, cites email content details and
1 d
doesn’t contain too much punctuation. This quick hit is not only compelling but
also CAN-SPAM compliant.

S
Sender ‘from’ information not only has the sender’s name (Real Magnet) but
2 a has an actual email address. Again, CAN-SPAM compliant but also easy for
also
the recipient to identify.

T actual width of the newsletter content is smaller than the actual window
The
3 s
size—even though it’s not a full window. This design element means no scrolling
is needed and the reader can see the full width of your content at once.

E
Email content header contains a link to the web version as well as a request to
4 b white listed. Great for deliverability and readability.
be

T graphics in this email only take up a small portion of the preview pane—and
The
5 t content begins where the recipient can read it before even opening the
the
email.

Links along the left navigation bar give a preview of articles not viewable in
6 t preview pane—encouraging the reader to open the email and read its full
the
c
content.

www.realmagnet.com
7

SUMMARY
Effective email marketing isn’t easy but it doesn’t have to be difficult—even with
the increasingly competitive email landscape.

The key is to focus on relevance and reputation. As a matter of fact, each of the
best practices discussed here has an impact on relevance or reputation—and
sometimes both. To be at the top of your email marketing game, you must turn
your attention to these areas since these will have the biggest influence on how
your email is delivered, viewed, and acted upon.

For example, take content/message development: By creating strong, actionable
content that is personalized to a specific segment of your target audience, you
are ensuring your message is relevant to the recipient. By making sure that you
follow the more technical email development guidelines, you are able to avoid
SPAM filters, ultimately strengthening your reputation as a sender.

Certainly there are nuances to email marketing that take time to address and,
in due course, perfect. But developing a plan of attack based on these best
practices will make a big impact on the success of your email marketing efforts.
By turning that plan into action, you will be on your way to achieving higher
deliverability, higher opens, higher click-throughs, and higher conversions.

ABOUT REAL MAGNET
Real Magnet is the developer of MagnetMail, a comprehensive email marketing
application with integrated surveys and audio and web conferencing solutions.
This integration simplifies workflow and aggregates marketing data, making
your marketing campaigns and events more efficient and faster to deploy. More
than 1,000 organizations use MagnetMail to communicate with customers and
prospects.

For more information on how Real Magnet can streamline your
organization’s marketing and event management, contact us at sales@
realmagnet.com or 301-652-4025 x131 or visit www.realmagnet.com.

www.realmagnet.com
8

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