Email is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have. It has the highest return on investment (ROI). We wanted to help you create the best email for your business. Below is our email checklist.
From name, from email address, reply to email address – This is important. While not as impactful to open rate as subject, it definitely should be thought about and tested. Typically individual names work better than both departments and company names.
Subject line – The most impactful item for open rate. There are many different types of subject lines that have been successful. Check out a list of successful email subject lines.
Preheader – Similar to the subject line, the preheader is very important for open rates. The preheader is usually displayed right underneath the subject line.
Introduction – Once you get people to open the email, you want the introduction of the body of your email to grab them. Make sure everything matches up and that you are talking about the GOOD STUFF first. Don’t save it to the end of the email. You need to grab their attention. Think of the introduction like you would think of a headline of an advertisement.
Main content – Make sure your main content in the body of your email is concise and relevant. Typically, shorter emails do better. The more your audience knows you and likes you, you can do longer emails.
Footer – Make sure you are CAN-SPAM compliant. Include company name, address, and an unsubscribe link in your footer.
Call to Action – This is a BIG one for getting click-throughs. For me, buttons typically work better than links (but not always). For the call to action, use action words and keep it short. For example, use ‘Download report’ vs. ‘Click here to download this financial report.’ Be as descriptive as possible. Test this!
Plain text version – Make sure you include a plain text version of your email. This helps because some email providers do not render HTML very well.
Mobile friendly – Emails are opened more on mobile devices than any other. The percentage in different studies vary, but it’s always over 50%. If your email is not easy to read on mobile, your email will get deleted (and you will lose more than half of your list).
Send your email through a spam checker – Check out this spam checking guide. Send your email through a spam checker (there are free spam checkers available).
TEST – Test test and test! In addition to anything mentioned above, check out this list for testing emails.
