The email industry is still evolving so there are no firm standards. However, the following 31 tips will help you improve the results from your email marketing.

 

1

Permission rules

Internet users are increasingly saturated and frustrated with junk email. This shouldn’t be a problem for most financial institutions, at least in dealing with their own customers. Most users want to hear from their bank or credit union, especially if you craft concise, well-written missives . But for credibility, you must seek permission to send messages, and always make it easy to opt out.

2

Divide your messages into numerous discreet programs

Rather than having a single all-or-nothing email list, create four or five sub-topics from which customers can select. Most users will select at least one, so you’ll have a way to reach most online customers with service-related topics. As shown below, U.S. Bank currently has seven different email topics to choose from.

U.S. Bank offers several email lists segmented by user base. The three primary categories (top of screen): general, students, and small business. The bank also links to separate signups for four product-specific lists: Piper Jaffray (brokerage), public affairs, Worldperks Visa, and Harley Davidson Visa.

3

Work hard to get email addresses

Gather email addresses at every customer contact, especially customers not yet using online banking. Email address should be part of every order form and service request received, on- and offline. Since the average user has between 2 and 3 different addresses, your systems must be capable of handling multiple addresses as well as continual changes.

4

Personalize and customize

You know a lot about your customers. Use that knowledge to send personalized and customized messages. Your messages will stand out in the inbox
and demonstrate that you know what you are doing.

5

Leverage your Website

Every message should have links back to your Website for more information. And don’t just dump people onto your home page; direct them to an exact page (see also #28). Another nice touch is a link at the top that allows users to view the message on your Website .

6

Track the clicks

With traditional direct mail and mass-market advertising, you have little knowledge of how your message is working, other than reviewing order rates and unaided ad awareness numbers. With email you can track every click to see what interested folks most, and where bailed out and headed to www.ESPN.com .

7

You can judge an email by its cover (subject/sender)

More than two-thirds of email users decide whether to read an email by who sent it, and another one-third make their decision from the subject line; many look at both. Like the teaser on the direct-mail envelope, the subject line needs to get readers interested, and you’ve only got 45 characters at most to work with. Some experts recommend subject lines of 35 characters or less (see also, #9).

8

Avoid the spam filters

With more than half of users employing spam filters and an estimated 1 in 8 legitimate opt-in messages being filtered out (see Table 7, below), you want to minimize the use of spam-like words such as free, save, and special. And always avoid ALL CAPS ¾ they shout and are difficult to read. Your email vendor should be able to help you design and test messages to avoid being trapped by filters. For the do-it-yourself crowd, you can enlist the services of Assurance Systems www.assurancesys.com  that will test your message against dozens of spam filters before you send it out. Costs begin at $200/mo on an annual contract.

Table 1

Non-Delivery of Email

Source: Assurance Systems, 2/03

9

Don’t botch the FROM line

Although we see it less now, the biggest email mistake is not including the bank name in the FROM line. It’s an absolute kiss of death for effectiveness, the equivalent of sending letters without postage. They just won’t get read. U.S. Bank wisely puts its name in the Subject, From, and Sent-From address.

10

Short = sweet

There is no rule of thumb for email length, but most professional messages are short, sometimes no longer than one screen, with the details presented on Web pages linked to the message (see Wells Fargo screenshot, right). Some of our favorite email lists rarely get read because there is just too much good info to absorb quickly, so the message is set aside and ultimately never read. Like a good speech, three topics are probably enough.

11

Be a journalist

When crafting electronic messages, think like a newspaper reporter. Present the most important facts right away, then add detail later in the message, or better yet, on a linked Web page.

12

Hire a copywriter

Email marketing is not the place to skimp on copywriting. If you have just 75 words to make your case, they better be good ones. Besides, with short messages, your copywriting bill will be relatively low.

13

Ask for the order

Make sure your messages have clear paths to the order form. Remember, many users skim messages quickly, or may not be familiar with how email links work. An order button can never hurt. We like how Wells Fargo added an order button this year to its outstanding year-end Sharebuilder message.

Wells Fargo and NetStock sent this message in Dec. 2002 and 2001. The order button was new in 2002.

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14

Plan your responses

Before you dump 100,000 messages into the Internet, make sure you’ve prepared for the response. Answers to typical questions should be pre-written, approved, and ready to go. A quick response to a question is very impressive when users are accustomed to waiting days for answers. And make sure someone (with appropriate backup staff) constantly monitors any email address given out.

15

Seek professional help

Electronic messaging is not rocket science, but you can make your messaging efforts much smoother by enlisting the services of a specialized email service provider . Service providers will automate much of the tedious maintenance efforts such as resends, bounceback maintenance, and opt-out requests so you can concentrate on making the messages better.

16

Proofread on screen and off

We learned this one the hard way. Proof each message three ways: on-screen, printed hardcopy, and then after sending it to your email account. It’s amazing the things you’ll catch on the second and third round of proofing.

17

Plain text is always required

Even if you are using HTML as your primary message format, you’ll always need to prepare and proof a plain-text version for those who can’t read HTML in their email client. And some customers who can handle HTML prefer text, so give them the choice. Make it easy for customers to change their email preferences.

18

Test HTML across different email clients

You’ve heard this a thousand times, but it bears repeating. Send your prospective message to a variety of email clients to make sure it works properly. At minimum test Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape Navigator, and AOL. Your email service provider can handle this task for you.

19

No attachments

Don’t use attachments unless it’s to deliver account-related data requested by the customer, for example, statements or check images.

20

Less is more

Don’t barrage customers with too many messages. Once per week for general educational or marketing content is the absolute maximum. Monthly is probably better, except for user-selected account-related information.

21

Open a dialogue

Don’t just talk AT your customers; they get plenty of that through other media. Establish a dialogue with customers and use the interaction to strengthen the relationship. Invite users to check out your Web, ask questions, give opinions, but be prepared to keep up your part of the dialogue with fast, well-crafted responses. Wells Fargo has included five separate feedback mechanisms in its most recent WellsWire, its monthly general email letter.

22

Get noticed with rich media

Every once in a while, snazz up your message with an audio or video treat. We loved ModemMedia’s holiday greeting, which featured sound and animated graphics paired with a custom message at the end.

23

Timing counts

Although every rule of thumb should be tested, the conventional wisdom is that Tuesdays through Thursdays are best for reaching customers at work, reserve Saturday and Sunday emails for home users.  Many experts recommend sending messages late in the workday so they needn’t compete with the morning clutter.

24

Test and measure everything

Like any direct medium, your long-term success depends upon continual testing of every aspect of every communication to see if it can be improved. Since most responses occur within 48 hours, you can test and alter much faster than with other advertising methods.

25

Provide contact information

Each message should include a customer service phone number, email address, and link to self-service areas of your Website.

26

Explain why it was sent

Include a short statement as to why customers are receiving the message, and how to opt-out or in (for those receiving it from a forward).

27

HTML gets noticed

Although studies differ in their results, HTML appears to be pulling ahead of plain text in terms of effectiveness. For example, DoubleClick/DartMail found that in Q3 2002, HTML click-through rates were nearly twice that of plain-text (11.3% vs. 6%). If you want more click-throughs and sales, use HTML. If you want the least amount of problems, use plain text.

Table 2

Email Marketing Performance

based on 2+ billion messages sent by DartMail in Q3 2002

Source: DoubleClick/DartMail, 11/02

28

Ensure a good landing

An effective email marketing campaign includes a specialized Website landing page that supports the teaser email copy and converts prospects into buyers. You should NOT use your home page for the landing unless your offer is obvious AND you have tracking in place to distinguish regular visitors from those visiting due to your direct-marketing efforts.

29

Get whitelisted

Major ISPs are in a high-stakes battle with spammers. One technique is to bar commercial emails from companies that are not preapproved on the ISPs so-called whitelist, a list of companies that are preapproved to send email without being subject to spam filters. If you outsource email distribution, make sure your provider is whitelisted. If you handle email in-house, you must take the imitative to become whitelisted at major ISPs (Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Earthlink, etc.). As of Feb. 11, the following can be used to request whitelist status:

• AOL: (703) 265-4670
• Yahoo: mail-abuse-bulk@yahoo-inc.com

30

Monitor the black lists

Even if you are on the whitelist today, you may be on a blacklist tomorrow. Anti-spam vigilantes are aggressive and even the best intentioned, double opt-in marketers will find themselves on blacklists from time to time. You are guilty until proven innocent, so it’s up to you to get yourself off the blacklists. Again, this is another service email vendors can provide .

31

Monitor message delivery

As the battle against spam rages, collateral damage to legitimate opt-in marketers is increasing. To make sure your messages get through, you should have two test accounts at each major ISP. One account set with filtering on, the other with filtering off. Even if your email vendor monitors delivery, we recommend test accounts as an added safeguard.  Assurance Systems can help in this area as well (see #8).