The Pentera Blog
Avoiding the Delete Button: 4 Simple Rules for eNewsletters with Impact
Your eNewsletter, as a part of your integrated marketing campaign, can offer you the opportunity to increase your response rate; better understand your potential donors; and engage a new, innovative audience of younger, more tech-savvy prospects. But as with any marketing piece there are rules that govern how it should and should not be used, designed, and delivered.
Follow these 4 simple rules to maximize the impact of your eNewsletters:
1. Use attention-grabbing headlines.
As with your newsletter or any other marketing piece, headlines are the key to grabbing your potential donors' attention and enticing them to read more. Because of the short attention span of Web users, this is even truer with eNewsletters. Creating short, captivating headlines that give the reader a taste of what the article is about can be the difference between a prospect reading an important article or passing it by.
2. Keep content short.
Your eNewsletter should be designed so that it's simple and easy for your potential donors to decide what content is interesting and relevant to them. By including an engaging photo, a couple of teaser sentences, and a "read more" link to the full story, you allow your potential donors to easily choose which articles pertain to them. Also, by reviewing your eNewsletter tracking report once your e-mail is sent, you can see which links were clicked and which stories garnered the most attention.
3. Avoid the buzz-word subject line.
The best way to get a one-way ticket to a donor's spam box is to use buzz words in your subject line. Spam filters are designed to pick up on specific keywords and phrases that are common in spam e-mails. The best way to avoid ending up in a donor's spam box, or being automatically deleted by a prospect who is used to deleting e-mails they don't recognize, is to put your institution and possibly your eNewsletter name in the subject line of your e-mail. This personalizes your eNewsletter and allows your prospective donors to recognize your communications immediately.
4. Include a clear, concise call to action.
If you want your donors to do something, tell them. By including a clear, concise call to action at the top of your e-mail, such as a "contact us" button, you send your donors a clear message about what their next step should be if they are interested in receiving more information.
For more information about Pentera's eNewsletters and how to incorporate them into your integrated marketing plan, visit http://www.pentera.com/ or call us at (317) 875-0910 ext. 251.
