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Just sending out email marketing campaigns without any initial thought or planning can waste your time and you reader's time. This article will give you the inside edge from SM2, a digital marketer's, perspective on how to increase your response rates and generate a multitude of leads via email tools like the SM2 Email Marketing extension.

1. No mistakes!

Broken links and broken images are an instant detraction from what you are offering. Not only does it damage the image of your company but it also disables the customer from accepting the offer. And remember to spell check!

2. Make it a quick message for a quick medium

You have 3 seconds to grab your reader's attention otherwise they will just delete and move onto the next their next email. When you play tennis and someone hits the ball hard to you, your instant reaction is to hit the ball hard back. This is the same with emails. The message is transferred quickly and people tend to read and discard them quickly. You'll find that potential buyers rarely reread a email newsletter once they have received it.

3. Send more than one email in the campaign

After you have sent your initial time sensitive email with its offer/message, send another one a week later saying that the offer has almost expired. You will need to weigh up the number of times you do this without getting the receiver annoyed! Keep doing this until you feel there is nothing more to be gained. This creates urgency for the reader.

4. Email link to websites

Your call to action in an email campaign is crucial. Direct buyers to your website or to reply to the email (make sure your reply to is a valid email address!). Ensure that your offer is clearly displayed and it is clearly understood how to accept the offer. You will receive faster response rates if you link to a website instead of asking the buyer to pick up a telephone and call you to receive this great offer.

5. Reply to your responses

A quick response to your emails is going to ensure that your hot lead turns into a sale. Unlike with other mediums, like post, the time between when your offer is delivered and when it can be acted upon is very short. After receiving an email you can effectively purchase, book, apply or register for anything on the Internet in a matter of clicks! This speed is required in returning to your leads as they will expect you to receive their email in your inbox as soon as they send it. As a rule, your response time should not be longer than 12 hours.

6. Give me a reason to refer

At the bottom of your email put a small blurb inviting the messgae/offer to be sent on, such as "If you know anyone else who would be interested in this offer please forward them this email." It is very logical and common sense for someone to do this, although it is surprising the difference this small blurb inviting people to do this can make. Give your customers a reason to refer a friend or visit the site and you will see an even better response rate.

7. Layout of the email

Understand how your audience is going to read their email. People who use Outlook Express will generally view your email in a small box. What that means for your email is that it needs to convey its message in that little box and give them a reason to scroll down. It's the same with Hotmail, Yahoo browsers, you only have a small window to display your message. Ensure that your offer can be quickly seen otherwise the buyer will browse to the next email.

8. What about me?

"What's in it for me?" is a favourite lead when it comes to accepting special sales offers. Ensure that your buyer has a clear and simple way of accepting your offer. Some good suggestions include "Click here to receive a free case study..." , "Reply to this email to receive a free copy..." , "Enter your details in the form to begin your registration process..." just to name a few. 

9. Flashy images vs. Text

There must be a balance between images and text in email marketing. Preferably more text than images. Images are slow to load and people tend to just read what they are looking at. One image plus a single link with the call to action in actual text is ideal. Also just a tip, the new Outlook will block images by default.

10. Clean Subjects

Ensure that you have a subject line that is catchy enough for your email to be opened and relevant enough for the email to be read all the way through. Some possible subject lines include, questions like "Are you struggling to find clients?" or using great adjectives like "Exclusive unveiling of our new product".

We hope the above 10 points help you get on your way to starting talking to your clients and sending them offers via email to help bring in more revenue and enhance your marketing efforts.

Start talking now!

Want to start your own email marketing campaigns to your clients? SM2 has created a custom plug in for your SM2 Joomla! driven web site, called SM2 Email Marketing that can be easily added to your site.

Contact SM2 to get started talking with your clients!