When subscribers interact with our newsletters we have many benefits. The first and most obvious positive aspect, is that we will end up selling more, if there are more clicks and visits on our website, if subscribers spend more time reading our emails, we will have a better chance of convincing our readers that purchasing from is a good option.
But there is another very interesting benefit too, which is the improvement of the sender score reputation, and thus the delivery rate and the results will improve, due to the fact that filters use various factors to verify the reputation of each sender, this is done by many ISPs, such as Microsoft SmartScreen: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/products/ie-9/features/smartscreen-filter
What these systems do is to always be one step ahead of the anti-spam filters that focus only on technical aspects and design, these “smart” filters will reward or penalize the sender depending on whether or not our newsletter interests our subscribers. How can they do it? Simply by verifying to confirm whether our subscribers are interacting with our newsletters or not, seeing if they are reading it, if they are sharing it, if they are clicking on the links, etc. Therefore it is necessary to increase interaction with users to improve the sender score reputation with these filters.
Here are some tips and ideas.
1) The first step is to follow the basic standards recommended for calls to action in your landing page:
- -The Rule of three seconds, the user should see the call to action in less than three seconds after opening the message.
- – Highlight several calls to action at the beginning and end with different styles
- -Use Text and links on the images for the user to see them when he clicks to view the images
- – Use Styles that let the user see and click on the links
- – Highlight Suggestive phrases that will incite the subscriber to click on the links
- -Use Flashy images and animated gifs (taking care not to add too many images)
2) Use systems that offer option to share and forward the newsletter Mailrelay allows you to insert a link so that the user can forward the newsletter to a friend, we use it in our own system.
It is important to offer this option to the subscriber, as it will help to increase the number of clicks, when we send good offers and content, some users will want to forward the emails to friends and family.
- Use buttons to offer unsubscribe options
In the header, for example we can offer buttons to confirm if the subscriber wants to continue receiving our emails.
If you prefer, you could add a mailto: link asking the user to answer the message if he wants to confirm that he would like to receive more emails, because when an user send you a message or reply to your emails, your address will be added to his address book. The same thing could be done if the user would like to unsubscribe, you can use a button such as “don’t want to receive our updates? click here.. “
This user will be directed to an unsubscribe link and will be removed from your database.
4) Use links to share on social networks in the header and footer or the typical buttons “Like”
The more social networks we have, the greater chance of having a click on the links, if the information and products offered are interesting to the users
5) Encourage the subscriber loyalty with small draws, surveys or games (gamification) in which they can subscribe by clicking on the header links. For example, a draw for users who accept to give their opinion about your new website or a new product, or for users who reply to your email with some information, as you will be added to their address book.
6) Encourage scrolling
Encourage scrolling using vertical visual elements that encourage the subscriber to scroll down. This will increase the time that the message is displaied and your reputation on Smartscreen systems will improve, and increase the chances of clicks on your links and your ROI.
7) Use links to related articles, or related products and other information, but without polluting the content of the newsletter. It would be good to add links to similar products, to see complete features, to download a pdf with more information, or any other relevant link.
8) Provide option to select the frequency of receipt of newsletters
This also will allow us to reduce the number of subscribers asking to opt-out, dissatisfied with the amount of emails they are receiving.
9) Use third-party clickable logos and customer testimonials to increase confidence. Depending on the type of products or services you sell, you can use third-party logos so that your subscribers will have more confidence in your newsletter and your company.
10- Don’t add phone numbers and address as text in the email, use clickable means of contact
The typical “click here to talk to us”, click here to see the map, link “contact us” that takes the user to the contact session on your website etc.
11- If the company has a CRM or extranet client so that the subscriber can login and see previous purchases, invoices, You can offer the information to login in the email footer, as you would have a better click-rate when subscribers click to login to the extranet.
12- Use links to additional services that are offered to the subscriber, for example, if you have any Apps, tracking of product, ETC.
They are very good incentives for the customer / subscriber to click on your newsletter if it actually provides a useful service.
13- Many companies use the email header as a menu with the main sections of the website, so that the user can go directly to a page on your website if he is interested in another information.
In many cases, we receive messages that are offering products we are not interested in at the moment, but if we see a link to go to another section that is relevant or could give us different information, we may click on it using the newsletter to access the website. This is also a good option for adding related services or related link with more information.
14- Always use a link that points to the web version of the newsletter
If, by chance, the content of the newsletter is not being viewed correctly, this will allow the subscriber to view the message as a web page in his browser, this also will increase your click rate.
Furthermore, enhanced platforms such as Mailrelay will register these clicks, even when the user is reading it as a web page, the system will register these clicks and you can see them when you are reviewing your reports.
15- The last advice is for users and administrators who need to create advanced email campaigns, it is important to use all the necessary time and resources to create and work with the defined strategies.
It comes to targeting subscribers based on their interaction with the newsletters, creating
A/B tests to see which aspect of the campaign has better results. There are several aspects you can test, such as the subject line, design, and other small changes, to test the results for each particular subscriber group. For example some will be more likely to click on links, other users will prefer texts, it is important to take into account these aspects when creating your next cemail campaign.
Before we finish this article, I would like to explain that these aspects are important, but they are only part of your strategy and each situation will ask for a different solution. The key, for any email campaign is balance, a style with elegance in the layout, good content and calls to action without saturating the newsletter. Nor should we add things that are not relevant, just to add more content to the email. It is better to make a mistake by omission, add less content to the email than offering a link worthless or irrelevant to our subscribers. If they know your emails always offer a lot of useless content, many users will not read the newsletters.
Common sense, analysis and planning, as always are very important.