Overhauling your e-mail campaign

Article from August, 27th, 2003.

You've been running your e-mail campaign. You had some ups and some downs; some impressive results and some miserable failures. So you decided - it's time for an overhaul. What to start with?

First, analyze each mailing you've done. Which one performed the best and which one the worst? This sounds a bit simplistic, but remember, common sense is not a common thing and most people fail to do this. After you do this, we advise you start working in two directions - growing your mailing/subscribers list and improving the quality of the content. Take the following steps:

1. Create catchy headlines.
   Here is one example from HSI e-Alert newsletter (250000+ subscribers, by the way). While most news sites had a headline something like that - "The results of the latest Women's Health Initiative study were released today," it ran, "The medical mainstream was in for a shock this week when the results were released on the latest Women's Health Initiative study of synthetic hormone replacement therapy (HRT)." Intriguing, isn't it? How could you not read further?
   
   
2. Work on creating a targeted audience.
   This may come as a shock to you: there is no need to add everyone (and his brother, wife, children and pets) to your list. Bigger is not always better. Really, you want get rid of individuals who don't meet your own defined stringent criteria and therefore won't generate sales. Ban them from receiving your newsletter.
   
   
3. Grow your list with quality subscribers.
   There are several ways to do this. First, create an incentive to join. Second, get current subscribers to refer your newsletter to friends or colleagues. A great way to do this is to provide an option to co-subscribe a person. Do remind people in your newsletter to inform their colleagues about your products, website and the newsletter itself.
   
   
4. Get your readers to participate and listen to them.
   One of the best ways to do this is to integrate your newsletter with your website. Simply add a link to your forum at the end of each newsletter or article. This way they will be able to get their opinion out and you will be able to get valuable feedback. Another great idea is to run a short abstract of two of three e-mails you received in each newsletter. Remember, people love giving advice and just speaking out in general. Once they see their name, they will keep reading your newsletter more carefully and tell other people about it.
   
   

Relevant links:

    • Start your e-mail campaign with Atomic Mail Sender
    • Gather new subscribers with Atomic Email Hunter

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