JBA Central Blog System

When it comes to your email marketing campaign's copy, nothing is more important than reaching your subscribers and persuading them to, well, act on your call to action... which is why I've created the 4 P's of writing effective email marketing copy. While these guidelines are not the be-all or end-all to the writing process, keeping these 4 things in mind will move your copy along and help you be brief yet detailed, to persuade, and to keep up a high degree of professionalism:

The Point (get to it)- There's nothing worse than reading an email and having to dig for the point... and most subscribers won't even bother to do so, which is why being clear and concise when writing your email copy is very important. Communicate in short sentences and avoid clumping large numbers of sentences together-- too much copy can overwhelm a rushed reader, so make sure you break up your content with space and maybe even some high quality, relevant images.

Prioritize- Especially as email programs have begun to use the preview panel more and more, listing the most important information first is invaluable. To ensure you include all of the most important information, pretend like all of your subscribers use the preview panel provided by their email service provider. Write down the benefits of subscribers acting on your offer and number them in order of importance-- position your email copy is such a way that the top 3 benefits are visible in the preview panel.

Persuade- Write your email copy in a way that creates a sense of urgency-- use powerful, convincing words like: proven, effective, now, guaranteed, gain, new, results, proven, benefits, etc. to move along your marketing message in a subtle way. One note of caution, though: using persuasive language is a great idea but should be used with discretion-- too many of these buzzwords will make your email sound like an infomercial, or, worse, spam.

Proofread- Read your email marketing copy out loud... does it flow well or is it choppy and awkward? Once you've made the necessary revisions, make sure at least one person reads over your email before you click "send." An objective pair of eyes will help spot and correct grammar, punctuation, and other errors that will risk making your organization look slipshod and unprofessional.

Thomas Jefferson said "Never use two words when one will do." Over 200 years after he said it, this statement still applies... even to email marketing. Using the principle of "quality over quantity" will keep your readers engaged and interested, not bored and frustrated. When composing email marketing content the last thing you want is to get so bogged down with words that your reader gets bored before they're clued in to your call to action. And to make things clear- quantity here refers to the amount of content within your emails as well as the quantity you send; with more and more marketers turning to the more budget friendly, highly effective strategy of email marketing as the economy forces them to cut costs, inboxes everywhere are becoming more and more inundated with emails.

Sending more emails could drive business up temporarily, but remember that there can be to much of a good thing--your subscribers will eventually get weary of receiving your emails so frequentl, especially if they're not of good quality-- not to mention the fact that sending newsletters more than once a week or so will get really old for the person writing and assembling the newsletters, and quality will naturally start to suffer. To avoid this pitfall, trust MyNewsletterBuilder's Content Corner™ to write and design your newsletters compete with interesting, informative content, your logo, business information, and photos. All you'll have to do is login monthly and find your newsletter we've added right into your account, add your your own updates or news to your newsletter, and send it to your mailing list. It's that easy.

At MyNewsletterBuilder we understand that you have more important things to do than worry about your email marketing campaign... which is why we created the Auto Series, a system that allows you to either create and plan your email marketing when you have the time or contract us to complete the newsletters for you. We'll create and save the newsletters, you set the send schedule, and you're free to get back to the other priorities on your list.

The Auto Series is great for a few reasons: first of all, you'll have the peace of mind knowing your email marketing campaign will be high quality and, since it's been planned ahead of time, you'll have the best content possible, from white papers and research materials to tips of the trade and articles. Add streaming audio and video to your newsletters to add an extra layer of style, polish, and professionalism to your campaign. Getting the word out about meeting and event reminders, products and services factsheets, and publications to your providers are as easy as adding them to your newsletters.

Planning ahead will help improve the quality of your campaign, and your subscribers will appreciate the timeliness of your emails. This consistency alsmo helps build subscribers' confidence in your brand and will encourage them to have faith in your products and services.

What better way to find out how you can improve upon your email marketing campaign than to ask your subscribers? Surveys can be a huge help in this area, and getting feedback from your subscribers is easier than ever with MyNewsletterBuilder's survey templates. All you have to do to get started is select "More Features" from your control panel and follow the step by step template to create your survey. You can even customize it with your own banner, background and font colors. Create a custom button for your survey so you can easily add it to your email marketing campaign or even your blog or website. Once you've sent the newsletter to the group of subscribers you choose, you'll then have invaluable subscriber data to help drive your email marketing campaign.

In addition to using surveys and the email feedback you receive is also a great way to give your subscribers what they're asking for. Coming up with high quality content that is useful to your subscribers can be a challenge, but that's when you can turn to your inbox for ideas. What kinds of questions are subscribers asking? They're probably not only asking questions you can answer easily, but also can provide the basis for a wealth of new content; after all, chances are if enough people are asking the same questions about your business that plenty of other subscribers are wondering about it, too.

One final note: make it a goal to answer all emails from subscribers within 1 day... any longer and you'll risk damaging your valuable reputation. Answer emails from your recipients quickly, courteously, and thoroughly, taking note of the issues that are regularly coming up. The more you listen to feedback the more likely you are to have satisfied subscribers who recommend your business by purchasing your products and services, visiting your website, and forwarding your email marketing to their friends.

Thursday

I'm on the mailing list for a local movie theater. Each week I get a newsletter in my inbox with movie show times, reviews of the movies that will be playing that week, and information on any other events that might be going on at the theater. Being the lover of cinema that I am, I look forward to these emails and plan many of my weekend activities around what's playing. I've noticed lately, though, that the newsletters come on a different day and time each week, and it's annoying. I like the predictability of knowing when I can expect the emails from all of the email marketing campaigns I subscribe to... it's part of the way the companies earn my trust and build up their reputation. This regularity makes me more likely to recommend their products and services to my friends and family. When users subscribe to your newsletter marketing, you should tell them ahead of time when they can expect to receive emails from you, and keep your word, sending emails consistently on the date and time you initially specified.

MyNewsletterBuilder's SmartSend™ will ensure your emails arrive on time, helping you steer clear of internet gridlock, compliant with the anti-spam requirements, and, with a 99 percent delivery rate, MyNewsletterBuilder provides email marketing services you can count on, whether your email marketing campaign is going out daily, weekly, or monthly, from 100 to 1 million recipients.

15% off Sale This Week Only!!!!! Act Now to Take Advantage of This Great Opportunity!!!!!!

When was the last time you opened an email with a subject line similar to that one? It's likely your answer was something like "awhile ago," as most of us have wised up about the sneaky tactic spammers use, and such an abuse of exclamation marks is highly suspicious. But if you're not a spammer, you should definitely avoid looking like one, which is why you should use exclamation marks, especially in combination with the common spam buzzword "free," very sparingly.

When you're writing copy for your email marketing campaign and find yourself tempted to use an exclamation mark, stop, reread, and rewrite the content in a way that will make the sentence's structure and rhythm convey the sense of urgency you're aiming for.

If you're still not convinced by the fact that Content is King and words can be much more powerful than punctuation placement, consider English writer Terry Pratchett's take on exclamation marks: "Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind."

Creating your newsletters on MyNewsletterBuilder and publishing them on eNewstandOnline is simple, and an effective way to attract a broader audience to your email marketing campaign. Once they're published to eNewstandOnline, the newsletters will have their own unique URL, making them available via all the major search engines, and RSS subscribers will be able to read your newsletters as soon as you've published them. A few simple steps will get your newsletters the maximum amount of exposure to your email marketing campaign, recruiting more subscribers and bringing more traffic to your website:

1. First, create your newsletter on MyNewsletterBuilder.... and make sure you save it.
2. Next, click "Newsletters" at the top of the control panel.
3. Once you've found the title of your newsletter in the list, click the "Publish to Web" icon next to your newsletter title.
4. Next, create a "Newsletter Group," enter the required information about regions and categories, enter descriptions for the newsletter, select "groups," and, finally, click "Publish to Web."
5. Go to eNewstandOnline.com and select your newsletter from the "Category" dropdown menu.
6. Click "More" at the bottom of the introduction to your newsletter to view the list of newsletters you've recently published.
7. Copy and paste the URL at the top of your browser into a newsletter within the copy of your newsletter with these instructions for your subscribers to give them RSS Feed access to your newsletters:
a. Click the link provided and click on the newsletter icon at the upper right hand corner.
b. Choose your reader or browser from the drop down menu.
c. Follow your selected reader's instructions.
d. This newsletter series should now be available via the RSS Feed service of your choice.

If you use an RSS feed to stay up to date on the news, to more conveniently read the blogs you follow, and to keep connected with websites you enjoy, you know the convenience of using an RSS feeds. For those of you who aren't acquainted with RSS feeds, here's how they work. First of all RSS ("Rich Site Summary" or "Real Simple Syndication") allows webmasters to configure content into a standardized format so that the content can easily be added to a customized browser or website.

For example, when content is updated on a website and someone has a subscription to a site's RSS feed they get a notification on the site where they have added their RSS feeds. The notification usually consists of a title, brief description, and link to the actual content. RSS subscribers generally favor this kind of web browsing because it allows them to synthesize a lot of information quickly, without having to take the time to visit all the websites they're interested in and checking for updates.

Now that we have an introduction to RSS out of the way, you might be wondering what RSS feeds can do for your email marketing campaign... the answer is "a lot," and MyNewsletterBuilder allows you to syndicate all of your newsletters by assigning each newsletter a unique url. This gives your RSS subscribers the opportunity to read your newsletter as soon as you publish it, and the major search engines have access to your content, making it more likely your subscriber lists will grow along with driving more traffic to your website. It's a win-win, so count on MyNewsletterBuilder for all of your email marketing needs. In the next edition we'll give you the simple steps for your subscribers to add your newsletters to their RSS feeds.

Whether you're looking to find out more information on email marketing and newsletter marketing, have questions about MyNewsletterBuilder's create/send/track/publishing system, or if you're just curious about learning more about MyNewsletterBuilder's unique features, our live webinars are 45 minutes and accessible to everyone from the convenience of your own computer. And since they're recorded, you can watch the webinars at your convenience. Sign up for a webinar today, and you can even post a question or comment for consideration for the webinar.

Learn tips and tricks of the email marketing trade with MyNewsletterBuilder's webinars, and you'll learn about everything from how to use the best newsletter template for your needs to how to access the open and click through rates for each eNewsletter you publish and much more - offering you more ways to create an impressive email marketing campaign that works.

As important as establishing a successful email marketing campaign is for promoting your company, at MyNewsletterBuilder we understand that sometimes there just isn't enough time to accomplish everything you'd like to... which is why we created Content Corner™, a service that provides professionally designed and pre-written newsletters to use in your email marketing campaign. We customize the newsletters with your company information, logo, and photos and deliver them right into your MyNewsletterBuilder account. All you have to do is log in and send your newsletter marketing to your contacts.

MyNewsletterBuilder's team of writers and designers can customize newsletters to suit your unique needs... and if you want to add or edit the newsletter before you send it, you can do so easily with our easy to use Content Management System. Thanks to Content Corner™ your email marketing campaign will consistently deliver high quality content that will educate readers and build your brand, all while saving you time, encouraging repeat business and customer trust at an affordable rate. So if you're beginning to dread assembling your newsletter every month, trust MyNewsletterBuilder's email marketing services to grow your campaign, freeing up your time for all the other important tasks on your schedule.