Layout is often overlooked because email marketers focus too much on the copy and the graphics and ignore how they all work together. Many messages are too busy and confusing to clearly show the reader what is expected and others are too boring to bother looking at. A good layout will catch the reader’s attention and keep it long enough for them to respond properly. Use simple graphics. You want to catch the reader’s attention and what better way to do that than with an attractive, colorful picture of your product or service. The problem is that most graphics can be confusing and unclear with the message they send. Research shows that you only have seven seconds to deliver your message in an email. If your graphics are too vague, too complicated, or too numerous, then you will not be successful in getting the desired response. The best graphics are simple ones. Limit images to four or less. Pictures can take a few seconds to load – a few seconds you cannot spare. Some email clients disable pictures thus prolonging the moment when your reader can see them and make a decision. Putting only a few necessary graphics in your email will keep the load time to a minimum and give your readers enough time to process your message instead of waiting for a page to load. Placing several links in your message will improve both the click-through rate and your reputation. Email service providers will recognize you as a legitimate email marketer if readers click on your links, and having multiple links in your messages you will increase the likelihood of the reader clicking on in. Try to incorporate five to seven links in all of your emails. Copy can be just as uninviting as the poor use of graphics. No one wants to read through a ton of copy when they are looking through their inbox. Use only a couple lines of copy to create interest in what you have to say or offer. Then link to a landing page where they can get all the information. Use simple copy and use it sparingly. Any good marketing professional will tell you that the road to success is paved with tests. The frequency and effectiveness of your tests will largely determine how much success you have in email marketing. Continually split test your layouts, as well as the other elements of your email campaign. As you try to improve upon your most successful campaigns your data will point you in the direction of high returns. Another way that you absolutely must test your emails is to do a trial run before you send a message to all of your contacts. Sign up for all the main services your contacts use and first send your messages to your own accounts. You will learn two important things from this test. First, not all email clients display messages the same way. Checking to see how they appear in the browsers will prevent you from wasting a message. The second thing to look for is deliverability. If one message gets filtered by a particular client, it will likely get filtered for everyone who uses that client. This test is well worth the effort. Remember – test, test, test, both A/B and trial. Do not neglect the layout of your emails and you will not fall into the trap that so many email marketing professionals do. A good layout will take the most advantage of every open and help get your click-through and conversion rates to a level that will make your competition very jealous. Looking to find the best deal on email advertising, then visit www.email-marketing-finder.com to find the best advice on email marketing campaign software for you.
Related posts:
