Check, check and double check again

No matter how sure you are that your campaign is perfect, it always pays to check and double check (and even triple check) all the details before sending.

Check out this email marketing fail from the 'George' section of ASDA.

Let's play spot the obvious mistake:



Thanks to my better half for pointing the email out to me in the first place and forwarding it on.

'spotlight' emails, increase your open rates

I know this blog is aimed more at the technical aspects of designing for email, but I figured it can't hurt to occasionally blather on about other bits and pieces I've learnt along the way. A technique introduced to me by a colleague some time ago, that I was completely oblivious to (naturally, as a designer.. and not a marketeer) was sending out a special 'spotlight' email, concentrating entirely on one subject (usually a lead article) from a recent newsletter where the recipient definitely didn't read the email (at least, the recipient didn't register in our reports as an open OR a click)

Taking these non-opening non-clicking recipients and sending out an email near guaranteed to get them salivating seemed to increase clicks from those non-clickers by at least 25% if not more. As mentioned before, all newsletter content would be stripped out and the email would 90% focus on the lead article and would mention briefly in passing the other content with the remaining 10%.

Just something to bear in mind, a potential tactic to follow up a newsletter with. Always helps selling the idea to a client if you can increase opens and clicks.. doubly so if it culminates in another lead or two :)

edit: rather fittingly, @Econsultancy has tweeted tonight about email marketers ignoring unresponsive customers. So I guess with that in mind, this blog post should really fall under the category of 're-engaging unresponsive customers' - well worth having a read of the Econsultancy blog!