Email Aptitude » Quick Tips

Quick Tip: How Long to Wait for Cart Abandonment Triggers

Forest Bronzan — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:11:03 +0000

Quick Tip! Shopping cart abandonment email strategy will largely depend on the type of products you’re selling and the frequency of your other email efforts. All things equal, we’ve been implementing 4-6 hour delays lately for cart abandonment triggers. We want the email to be timely but not be too intrusive.

Quick Tip: Subject Line Length

Forest Bronzan — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:28:20 +0000

The subject line has always been a pretty important element to email communications. After all, if your subject is not relevant and does not catch the recipient’s interest, the likelihood of them opening your message decreases. Sender reputation plays a huge part in this, but let’s focus on the subject line.

In most of our studies, we see the open rate increase with shorter subject lines. Across a large sample, our highest open rates were with subjects that had fewer than 39 characters, but there are exceptions to the rule which makes it very important to test. In a post from early 2009, I wrote about A/B Subject Line Testing. While this plays an increasingly important role as your list size grows, it can also help to make big improvement for small senders.

Quick Tips for Subject Lines:

1. Be Cognizant of Inbox Restraints: some email clients will not display your entire subject, so make sure to have your key points at the front.

2. Focus on Targeted Copy: more important than the length is what your subject says. If it is timely and targeted you will see higher engagement rates.

3. Explore Dynamic Subjects: If your email platform supports dynamic content, experiment with using dynamic elements in your subject.

4. Test: The A/B approach helps increase your email funnel for each send and provide good data for future improvements. Take the extra step and test your subject lines.

Quick Tip: Holiday Season Shipping Deadlines

Forest Bronzan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:45:59 +0000

There has been some great content out there for 2009 Holiday Email Strategy. Some standouts included pieces from MarektingProfs, Smith-Harmon, and Bronto!

In case you didn’t have time to read through white-papers, here is a quick last-minute tip for e-commerce sites for the 2009 Holiday Season.

Shipping Deadline Emails: Let your subscribers know when they need to order by and when time is running out!

1. Send an early announcement (November) that includes your company’s shipping deadline schedule in order to receive products by December 25th.

2. Incorporate a small note (or cool looking button) in all regular emails. E.g. “View Our Holiday Shipping Guide”

3. Set up a series of reminders to go out 2-3 days before each deadline. Examples: “3 Days left for Domestic Shipping by Christmas” “Only 2 Days Left for UPS Next Day Shipping by the 25th” Etc.

Quick Tip: Text to Graphics Ratio

Forest Bronzan — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:53:55 +0000

Never send an email that is one big image. It will be blocked by many email clients, you won’t get full tracking capability of link engagement, and you run a higher risk of landing in spam filters.

You also don’t want to send emails that are extra heavy on graphics and light on text. Aim for a ratio of around 60% text and 40% graphics.

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Quick Tip: Use ALT Text for Images

Forest Bronzan — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:52:05 +0000

Isn’t it frustrating when you get an email, images are blocked, and you can’t see much of anything? Using alternative text for the images will help with that communication barrier. Use the ALT tag for important (if not most) images. When your subscribers have images turned off, the alt tag will provide a text view of the image. This is extremely important.

Quick Tip: Link to a Web Version

Forest Bronzan — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:26:30 +0000

Your subscribers may have trouble reading your carefully crafted email. With blocked image issues, emails rendering differently in various clients, and a list of other potential problems, it’s handy to provide an online hosted version of your email. This link and line of copy should go in the pre-header. All legitimate email platforms will have the ability to quickly and easily do this.

A few ideas for copy:

Click Here if you are having trouble viewing this email

To view an online version of this email, Click Here

Can’t see our email? Click Here to view it online

Quick Tip: Send an Internal Test…

Forest Bronzan — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:01:01 +0000

… Not Just to Yourself

This should go without saying, but before you send that award winning email to your list of 100,000 subscribers, send a final test to an internal group. Get some others from around the office to agree to review, and don’t just send to yourself. When you are actively involved in a campaign it can get mushy. It can help to have a fresh set of eyes to notice extremely simple mistakes.

This may sound elementary, but you would be blown away by some of the simple and careless mistakes huge companies have made with their emails.

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Other posts you might find of interest:

Best Day to Send Email

Introduction to Email Segmentation

Email List Building Mistakes

Quick Tip: What Fonts to Use

Forest Bronzan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:26:21 +0000

What font type should be used with HTML emails?

Have you ever received an email that has bright pink cursive font on a dark pink background? Pretty tough to read. This may be an extreme example, but don’t make it a challenge to read the copy in your emails. Your subscribers are already busy and if they afford you the compliment of opening your email, don’t screw it up by trying to get fancy with your font.

Aim for readability which is generally on the basic end for body copy. Stick to text fonts that are 10 or 12 point, in either Verdana, Arial or Times New Roman.

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Other posts you might find of interest:

Best Day to Send Email

Introduction to Email Segmentation

Email List Building Mistakes

Quick Tip: Maximum Width for HTML Emails

Forest Bronzan — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:59:50 +0000

What should my maximum width be for my HTML email newsletter?

With HTML emails, it’s good to watch your image dimensions. Your subscribers should not have to scroll to the right to see your full email. To be safe, it is recommended to have a max width of 600-650 pixels. On a more conservative approach, you would have a maximum width of 550-575 pixels.

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Other posts you might find of interest:

Best Day to Send Email

Email List Building Mistakes

Intro to Email Segmentation