10. Timing is Everything: Remember that not only frequency, but also times, dates, and days of the weeks are important when delivering emails. Instead of sending emails in the middle of the night – which are more likely to be misinterpreted as spam – business to business emails are best sent during regular business hours, from Tuesday through Thursday.
9. Customization is Key: By using a variety of subject lines and customizing email content, you can avoid flooding corporate servers with emails that sound too much like spam. Likewise, tailoring your content to match specific sub-groups can boost effectiveness and make your message more relevant to recipients.
8. Don’t Forget to Follow Up: Immediately follow up with the results of your email campaign as you would with a regular email. Waiting a few days or a week makes your response seem delayed or impersonal.
7. Steer Clear of Spam Phrases: Using words like “free” or “discount” or ALL CAPS text in the subject line can easily look like spam or come off as “cheesy.” Also, it is best not to use words like “remove” or “unsubscribe” when including instructions to unsubscribe.
6. Check Your Spam Score: Services like www.thecassiopeia.com can provide ways to track and regulate your email’s spam score.
5. What’s the Tradeoff?: While tracking “open” and “click through” rates, etc. may be time-consuming, the payoff comes in knowing that your email is less likely to look like spam and more likely to reach its intended recipient.
4. More Options, More Response: Giving your recipients a variety of ways to respond via email, phone, or even by visiting a website, increases the likelihood that they will do so.
3. Dedicate Your Domain: Besides helping you stay organized, this prevents your primary domain or company from ever receiving email complaints from your marketing campaign. For example, if your main website is www.xyz.com, use a domain like www.xyz-email.com for your marketing campaign.
2. Make it Personal: Emails that look like they were sent from a colleague or fellow professional are less likely to be dismissed. Opening with the recipient’s name and ending with a signature are excellent ways to do this.
1. Compliance is Necessary: The CAN-SPAM Act, a set of laws that governs the proper requirements and procedures for commercial messages, protects recipients from unwanted emails and gives them the right to opt-out of email campaigns, etc. For more information, visit www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
