eNewsletters are powerful brand-building tools, but only if they reach and engage your audience. Luckily, the outlook is good for increasing your deliverability, open and click-through rates. Dodging those mystical SPAM filters and the all-powerful delete button doesn’t really take magic. Just follow our 8 steps carefully to avoid the traps that lead to mediocre metrics.

There are three primary statistics we evaluate when determining the success of a newsletter email campaign:

- Deliverability Rate: The number of emails that get to people’s inboxes.
(Industry Standard: 97%)

- Open Rate: The percentage of people who open the email.
(Industry Standard: 10% of delivered emails)

- Click-Through Rate: The number of people who click a link in the email they opened.
(Industry Standard: 10% of opened emails)

There are 8 steps you can take to maximize the 3 rates above:

Increasing Deliverability Rates
1. Follow CAN-SPAM Laws.

• Include the street address of your business.
• Include a way for your recipients to ”Opt Out,“ typically an Unsubscribe link.
• Avoid misleading header info or subject lines.
• More details can be found here.

BUYER BEWARE: Sending an email to a list you purchased from someone else is against the law. There is a sharp line between purchasing a list of email addresses (illegal) and purchasing an email to be sent on your behalf (legal). That difference is explained here.

As for your own list of client/associate emails, create a privacy policy that includes the words ”we never sell or trade your email“, post it on your site and stick to it.

2. Minimize Image File Sizes.
Images are a great way to give your newsletters ”pop“ but if the image sizes get too large, your email can get caught in spam filters. We have step-by-step instructions for optimizing your image files for email using Photoshop or Picnik (a fantastic, free, photo-editing web app).

3. Clean Your List EVERY Time.
Spam filters can tell if you are sending to a bunch of bad addresses. If your bounce rate is too high, you will get caught in Spam filters. The best way to clean your list is to use an Email Service Provider (ESP) that automatically cleans lists after one hard bounce (”no such address“) or three consecutive soft bounces (”mailbox is full“).

If you are the poor admin assistant who gets stuck manually cleaning the email bounce list, send your boss this article on how ESP’s that do that sort of thing automatically really pay for themselves.

Increasing Open Rates
4. Send Regularly.
We typically recommend sending no more than once a week and no less than once a month. Whatever schedule you choose, stick to it.

We also suggest picking a day of the week and time of day that gets good open rates from your list and always try to send at that time. If you use an ESP that provides open/click-through statistics, you can experiment to find the best send time by segmenting your list and sending the same eNewsletter at different times.

5. Optimize Your Subject Line – Especially Those First 25 Characters.
What’s the fewest number of characters you need to convince someone to open your eNewsletter? Typically you get about 25; use them wisely.

For those who feel the name of your company MUST be in your subject line, remember that you can set up the emails so your organization’s name shows up in the ”From“ field.

Increasing Click-Through Rates
6. Give a Clear Call to Action.
Avoid excessive use of the words ”Click Here“ as it may increase your SPAM rating. Also, it’s just not a very clear call to action. For most eNewsletters, the point is to increase your site traffic or RSVP to an event. You don’t really want people just to ”click,“ you want them to ”Read More“ or ”Register” or “Sign Up” or “Take Our Survey” or “Email Mary,” etc. So, just use those words as your link.

And when ordering your newsletter stories, remember that the first story gets the most clicks by far.

7. Keep it short and enticing.
The point is to get them to click a link so you can track what they are reading and get them onto your site. Let them know you have info they want, but make them click to your site to get it.

8. Use a White-Listed Email Service Provider
For more details on this, read our article on using an ESP vs. sending from Outlook. (And find out which ESP’s are Astek’s faves!)

This post was featured in ePiphany, Astek’s Monthly Newsletter | Other ePiphany Articles

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Katie Hawkey Categories: Marketing, Social Media, Web, ePiphany Featured Story