Optimizing Holiday Email Marketing

The holiday email marketing season takes the overdrive with the onset of Halloween. Certainly, this isn't the time to design the marketing program from the scratch. But a small fixes can do the trick to raise the deliverability by a few percent without the need to shift to another completely new program. These fixes won't take major investment in money or time.

As they say the first impression is the best impression, a very important aspect is to include the brand or company name as the sender and not individual name or email. The “from” line acts as the basis for the readers based on which they recognize and trust the sender. So it is best to use the brand name which is widely used by the readers for recognition. Following it is the subject line. It also plays a major role in the opening of the email. The subject line should not only be irresistible but trustworthy. Many subject line tools are available on the internet which can be of great use. The trick followed by most is to phrase the first twenty eight characters with the most important information. Usually the first twenty eight characters are of high importance to get the message across to the client. Putting the brand name in the from line helps to free up space for the critical information, which is the heart of the message, in the subject line. If the email is send to a mobile, the brand name should be first thing the reader should see. If there is space, special offers will be worth mentioning.

The email should have a link to the complete information which is posted on the website. The link should redirect the reader to the complete article just by one click. Subscribe and unsubscribe links should be working always and the directions should be displayed promptly. If this isn't done, it is going against the US email marketers law. The email should also include information about the company's name, address and other contact information such as telephone, link to web contact page, and email. It is good to have links to other offers and services provided by the company. Effects of the previous offers and customer testimonials can also be included to draw attention.

The email shouldn't resemble to a print ad which has bright colors within which the information is contained. Although, most of the HTML designers love to design this type of emails, but another fact is that most of the readers would have their block images option activated which will stop the image from downloading and the recipient will not be able to see any part of the message. The email should be broken down into manageable chunks. One large image should be replaced with many smaller images and important information should be placed in a text boxes which will be displayed in spite of the images being displayed or not. Alt tags can also be used to describe the images or the offers contained within it. This information will be displayed if the images do not show up.

Coding and spelling mistakes are a big no-no. If there is, this is a sure sign of a spammer. Miss spelt brand or company name can never be forgiven. It is a good habit to get the entire email proof-read by a professional before sending it to the readers. The links should be check individually to see whether they are working or not. Although it is a tedious task, it will save the readers from getting irritated and from losing sales. Past performances shouldn't be trusted upon and regular checks must be made constantly.

The most important thing is to keep an eye on the competing company and the offers being offered by them. Try to design a better offer and test it on sample readers before committing to the offer. Like every one will be offering free shipping during the holiday season, so try to think of something which will differentiate you from the rest.

The last point to be considered is that because of the overwhelming flow of emails during the festive season, the subscribers can get irritated and complaints may arise. This can be tackled by throttling the frequency of emails. Delivery logs should be read constantly to handle the problem at the proper time.