Email is a powerful and flexible tool when used correctly, and equally well-suited to order acknowledgments or complex negotiations. It doesn\u2019t have the PR problems currently being experienced by social media, and it\u2019s far less intrusive than telephone calls. However, email isn\u2019t an instant win. There are many aspects that must be considered before mastering the art of email communications.\u00a0<\/span> Email is a critical aspect of any business and is typically the first interaction businesses have with customers. Whether you use email marketing to help find new customers or if email is only used for basic communication and support, every business needs a professional, reliable email address.<\/span> Imagine sitting down at your computer one morning and finding two emails in your inbox from rival companies. Both contain identical discounts for something you\u2019ve wanted to buy. However, one email was sent specifically to you through a branded address. The other has blank To and CC fields and was sent from a Gmail account.<\/span> Email marketing campaigns are at the forefront of truly effective customer relations. An unsolicited email may be the first time a customer has heard of your brand, and first impressions count. Within a matter of seconds, the recipient will have subconsciously decided whether the sender is professional and friendly, or impersonal and anonymous. And if they decide the latter, this email won\u2019t just be ignored. It may be flagged as spam, damaging the sender\u2019s reputation, and reducing the chance of future messages reaching their intended targets.<\/span> Choosing a suitable email prefix is another important consideration. It\u2019s fine to have an info@ or sales@ address for general correspondence. However, is this the first impression you really want to create in an email marketing campaign?\u00a0<\/span> The other strand of this personalization process involves contacting named individuals one at a time. Having a named recipient in the \u2018To\u2019 field immediately creates a sense of identity. Each person won\u2019t know how many other people received the same message, but they\u2019ll know it\u2019s no more specific to them than a billboard or radio advert. Although individual emails take longer to dispatch, they\u2019ll achieve far higher response rates. And automated software tools take the strain out of mass mailings. They can distribute email in response to specific events or when a certain amount of time has elapsed.<\/span> You can\u2019t afford for inboxes to be offline, or for a sender\u2019s mail server to be associated with junk mail. A dependable email hosting service will offer webmail login and compatibility with software packages like Outlook. It\u2019ll store inboxes and backup copies of sent messages on secure data servers, automatically duplicating mailboxes to prevent them from being lost or deleted.<\/span> Many recipients decide whether to read or delete an email based on just two factors: the sender\u2019s name and the subject. Rather than adopting a sales@ or noreply@ address, yourname@yourcompanyname.com could increase open and click-through rates by up to 35%. It also builds a vital sense of personality, often lacking in online ventures where there\u2019s no human interaction.<\/span> In today\u2019s culture, messages are mostly viewed on smartphones and tablets. A variety of screen sizes can make optimization troublesome. However, it\u2019s essential to ensure emails display equally well on a anysized device.\u00a0<\/span> Did you know that email sent between 8 pm and midnight have the highest open rates? Additionally, Tuesdays achieve better read rates than other days of the week.\u00a0<\/span> Spelling and grammatical errors suggest a lack of professionalism, so avoid them at all costs. People are increasingly wary of typos and other forms of miscommunication and will instantly categorize an email as spam when grammatical errors are present.\u00a0<\/span> Finally, a note of caution. Over three-quarters of consumers unsubscribe from mailing lists if their inboxes are overflowing with communications. Send emails in response to customer actions or inquiries, or to promote genuinely noteworthy events like half price sales and new product launches. One or two emails per week should be the maximum any firm distributes to individual clients.<\/span> Are you familiar with the CAN-SPAM laws in the US? If not, you could be penalized thousands of dollars.<\/span> Below is a CAN-SPAM crash course full of helpful tips to ensure that you are following the laws and avoiding any loss of money or services:<\/span><\/p>\n
In the modern age, there\u2019s often very little to distinguish between competing organizations. Dropshipping has helped to slash operating costs and margins, anyone can create a stylish website that looks equally slick on desktop and mobile devices. Consequently, brand professionalism and reputation are some of the increasingly few ways to distinguish between good and great brands and an easy way to instantly display brand credibility is through email.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBecome an email expert<\/span><\/h3>\n
Despite the ongoing twin assaults from spam and social media platforms, email remains a crucial communication tool. Half the world\u2019s population has email accounts, and 269 billion messages are sent every day, of which barely half are believed to be spam. A remarkable 86% of businesspeople prefer to communicate via email, due to its immediacy and the permanent record it creates of discussions or agreements. This is particularly important when conducting negotiations, or when dealing with small print.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>
To help you succeed, Midphase has created this helpful email guide containing everything you need to know about business email. Read on for our ten tips for email success. Let\u2019s get started!<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #1. Match email addresses to website domains.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Now think: which company would you feel more enthusiastic about giving your business to?<\/span>
If companyname.com has a matching @companyname.com email address, every email will instantly and automatically reinforce the brand. Incoming email will be considered legitimate when responding to new inquiries or first-time customers. Spam is a consistent threat and always at the forefront of our minds. Most potential customers will overlook an email sent from an unfamiliar Gmail or Hotmail account. Branded email addresses accentuate a brand\u2019s professionalism more than third-party email ever could.<\/span><\/p>\nReasons why customized email is important:<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/b>A customer who\u2019s just placed an order might not associate a Gmail account with their purchase. However, email from sales@brandname.com will immediately be connected to their order or account.<\/span><\/li>\n
<\/b>Every time a consumer sees a brand name, it subliminally reinforces the brand. Email is great for this, particularly when sending out periodic messages about new products or incentives. Customers will gradually start to associate certain brands with particular industries or services.<\/span><\/li>\n
<\/b>Any new email account has to build a reputation, and might initially arrive labeled as spam. However, recipient servers are more suspicious of messages from generic senders like Hotmail. A company-branded email establishes sender reputation quicker.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nMake an instant impression<\/span><\/h3>\n
One of the most important ways in which email marketing campaigns can avoid such negative connotations concerns branded email accounts. Here at <\/span>Midphase<\/span><\/a>, we include email addresses with every purchase of a website domain. As a result, Midphase customers are able to select specific email addresses (hello@brandname.com, johnsmith@brandname.com, etc).<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s in a name?<\/span><\/h3>\n
It\u2019s far better to send messages from a named individual, addressing the recipient directly. Individual emails suggest intimacy and exclusivity and build a connection to subconsciously encouraging people to read on.\u00a0<\/span>
It\u2019s also advisable for the sender to be a point of contact throughout subsequent customer journeys. This ensures that clients don\u2019t have to communicate with several email accounts in different divisions of the business. That gets old pretty quickly.<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #2: Consider brand reputation.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Any email marketing campaign is a significant undertaking, consuming staff resources and requiring considerable planning. Sending messages targeted at individuals (and their unique needs or preferences) helps to ensure optimal response levels, justifying any initial investment. Meanwhile, the added professionalism of a branded email account helps to build trust \u2013 and establish a long-term client relationship\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #3: Pick a dependable email hosting company.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Midphase offers a <\/span>variety of email options<\/span><\/a> from Personal to Professional. Get started for $1 or less per month!** Packages include email addresses that match your domain, 24-hour support, spam and virus protection, and our powerful webmail client. Our SLA ensures that your email is online and available around the clock or your money back!<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpadmin.uk2.net\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/MIDPHASE-PROMO-CTA-2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEmail Tip #4: Choose address prefixes and subject lines carefully.<\/span><\/h2>\n
The other part of the open\/delete equation concerns a message\u2019s title. Words like \u2018free\u2019 and \u2018bargain\u2019 arouse suspicion among inbox spam filters, meaning messages may not reach their intended recipients. Equally, lengthy subject lines rarely display properly and look unnecessarily messy. Research suggests a 65-character title is optimal, ideally making a clear statement or a compelling offer.<\/span>
Consider testing out a variety of address prefixes and subject lines to see which work best for your target audience. Simple A\/B testing can teach you a lot about how your customer base reacts to email marketing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #5. Design for mobile.<\/span><\/h2>\n
To optimize your email, use compressed graphics to reduce download times and placeholder captions in case an image doesn\u2019t display. Beta-test messages on as many devices as possible to maximize legibility on all of them, and rely on universally recognized fonts like Arial. Just a few additional steps can help you maximize open rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #6. Send messages at optimal times.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Selecting the perfect time to send can help you reach more people and encourage open and read rates. However, you don\u2019t need to sit at your desk hitting \u2018send\u2019 at a precise moment to ensure emails go at the right time. Use automated software packages to distribute emails at pre-selected times, as well as monitoring engagement levels for fine-tuning future campaigns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #7. Always proofread emails several times before sending.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Whenever possible, review draft messages the day after writing them and ask a colleague to read the text out loud. Remember that it is always more difficult to edit our own writing, so a fresh perspective can identify inconsistencies or other issues. This is also helpful for clarifying ambiguities in a sales or marketing message.<\/span>
Consider downloading a grammar checker like Grammarly for an additional layer of proofreading protection. And when it comes to tone of voice, remember that consistency is key.\u00a0<\/span>Bonus tip: If you always write as yourself, your tone\u00a0 will always match.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEmail Tip #8. Email sparingly.<\/span><\/h2>\n
Always ask yourself, \u201cWould I like to receive this email?\u201d If the answer is not an overwhelming yes, then you may want to reconsider your offering or perhaps save the news to combine with a future, more crucial, email.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wpadmin.uk2.net\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/MIDPHASE-PROMO-CTA-3.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEmail Tip #9. Follow CAN-SPAM Rules<\/span><\/h2>\n
In 2003, the US Government and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) outlined a specific set of rules for email marketers to follow called the <\/span>Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003<\/span><\/a>, more commonly referred to as CAN-SPAM. This set of rules specifically outlines what is considered to be spam and what is not.<\/span>
The act lists requirements for email senders to comply with in response to the massive amount of spam that had began to circulate in the early 2000s. Contained in the CAN-SPAM laws are a set of guidelines including unsubscribe options, content restrictions and sending behavior compliances. For example, you must include a physical address in your email marketing plans, along with an opt-out button.<\/span>
Failure to comply with CAN-SPAM in email communications can result in penalties of up to $16,000 per spam email and loss of services from their web host. If you or your business include direct emails as a part of your marketing strategy, we recommend reading the <\/span>full description of CAN-SPAM rules<\/span><\/a> from the FTC.<\/span><\/p>\nCAN-SPAM Crash Course<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Email Tip #10. Always carefully consider your email strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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