How to Get More Customers to Read Your Emails! Part 2....Continued

So What's the Good News?
 
 
 
Slight changes to your email can create dramatic boosts in response.
 
 
Even if your emails are generating below industry average clickthrough rates, you have nothing to worry about as long as your emails are not causing your subscribers to unsubscribe.
 
 
As long as your subscribers stay on your list, you will have multiple opportunities to make them an offer they will pay attention to and act upon.
 
 
The secret to getting your emails read lies in testing.
 
 
Make gradual, incremental changes to your email and monitor your open rates. Tweak, test and repeat. Eventually, as long as subscribers stay on your list you'll discover the sweet spot that will make them act on your offer.
 
 
There are various tactics you can implement today that may well double the response rate of your promotional emails.
 
 
Our focus here will be to show you different strategies to rapidly boost the success of your email marketing campaigns.
 
 
 
The Necessary Software
 
 
If you're doing email marketing then you're probably using an email marketing software product such as Aweber, GetResponse, AutoresponsePlus or MailLoop. All good email marketing software (sometimes called autoresponder software) will offer you ways of monitoring clickthrough rates and open rates.
 
 
If you're shopping for an email marketing software, I strongly recommend Veremail if you're just starting out.  Here’s why:  Why Choose Veremail?

After all, there are other online email systems out there.
Simply put, the difference is that Veremail offers you more value for less money...
 
 
ï‚· Unlimited Autoresponders:
You can set up as many different sequential email sets as you want. Each email set can contain an unlimited number of emails and be configured to send them out with whatever frequency you like. One set could contain 7 emails and send them out once a day for a week. Another could contain 52 emails with them going out each week for a year. It's totally up to you!
 
 
ï‚· Flexible Email Content:
Messages can can be plain text or HTML. You can include images, style scripts, submission forms, even Flash designs if you like. Veremail supports it all.
 
 
ï‚· Unlimited Email Broadcasts:
Perform unlimited email campaigns to your contact database anytime you like. Broadcasts can be scheduled to have emails go out on specific dates over a period of time and can include HTML and/or plain text. You can run campaigns for your entire database or justfor certain groups of contacts.
 
 
ï‚· Unlimited Email Groups:
You can organize your contacts into an unlimited number of email groups. This allows you to perform targeted email campaigns to specific cross sections of your database. Each group you create allows comes with its own HTML code that you can copy and paste into any web site you want for people to subscriber to your newsletter. This allows you to track and monitor which web sites are sending you subscribers, but also allows you to categorize them as the occur.
 
 
ï‚· 100% Guaranteed Delivery:
Veremail is the only system that has historically proven to be able to get your email delivered. How? Years of diligent effort combined with investments in political lobists. Other systems are constantly being blacklisted by local ISPs or large anti-Spam services like SpamCop or Spamhaus. This results in only a small fraction of your email getting delivered. Veremail has been acknoledged to be 100% Spam proof and its reputation proceeds it. Plus the system contains technology that allows you to monitor deliverability yourself for each email blast you perform. No other service can come close to Veremail's delivery rate.
 
 
ï‚· Spam Free and MAPS Compliant
Veremail enjoys reputable 3rd party validation and is fully endorsed by MAPS and follows its principles for responsible email marketing. MAPS guidelines are widely recognized as the standard for defining the legitimate process to prevent email abuse. Veremail is 100% Spam free and Spam proof. Not only does this allow you to perform email marketing in an ethical manner, it protects you from the liability and litigation associated with irresponsible marketing. Attempting large email campaigns on your own through your own ISP can quickly result in large fines and even imprisonment.
 
 
ï‚·  Fully Verified & Verifiable
Veremail is the only system in the world that requires double opt-in verification for every single email address, but also provides the public (or ISPs) the ability to query the verification database in order to produce a verifiable activity log that shows exactly when an email address has interacted with the system. Opt-in requests are processed in real time by automatically capturing the date/time and the subscriber's IP address. A global blacklist function is readily available for those who wish to block additional emails.
 
 
ï‚· Live Unlimited Customer Support:
24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Veremail includes unlimited access to our live VoIP online conference room where you can get your questions answered. Phone support is also available as needed.
 
 
ï‚· Live Unlimited Training:
Scheduled around the clock and provided by expect email marketers, we have trainers available from around the world who offer detailed training sessions for FREE to help you increase your profits and results!
 
 
ï‚· FREE Lead Generation:
Unlike every other system out there that encourages you to purchase leads, Veremail provides you a vehicle to generate 1000's of premium leads per month through its integration with the Veretekk lead generation system. Paying for leads is expensive, unethical, violates people's personal privacy, and does not produce very good results. Rather than asking you to pay for your Veremail system and then turning around and telling you to buy leads from us, we will give you Veremail Silver and the Veretekk Silver lead generation system for FREE to teach you how to generate more leads than you can possibly deal with yourself. (Really! Ask our subscribers!) Plus, these are serious, high-quality, premium leads that are actually happy when you call them. Closure rates often approach 70-90%. Plus we'll provide you with unlimited live training to teach you how!
 
 
ï‚· Upload Email Lists - 300,000 per month:
If you already have a database of contacts or source for purchasing quality opt-in email lists, Veremail allows you to upload your email lists into your system for verification. Unlike the closest competitors who only allow a maximum of 2500 emails to be uploaded a month, Veremail allows you to upload 10,000/day! That's up to 300,000 verified emails per month!
 
 
ï‚· Statistics for Email Uploads:
When you upload an email list the Veremail system instantly processes your list through a very sophisticated procedure which results in providing you detailed statistics about your list. You'll know how many unique emails it contains, the number of duplicates, how many leads are new, and how many email addresses you already had in your database. It also compares your list to our massive databases to search or known Spam email addresses and domains. It provide all of this information back to you as well as ongoing statistics as your verification email campaign proceeds to tell you how many people have opened the email, how many verified, how many emails bounced back undelieverable, etc. This invaluable data allows you to scrutinize the source(s) of your email lists to determine which are quality and which are not.
 
 
ï‚· The Industry's Most Lucrative Affiliate Progam:
First of all, Veremail is designed to promote YOUR product, service, or business opportunity, not ours! However, we have included a very profitable compensation plan for those who are not making the kind of money they want to through their current business. It's completely up to you to decide if you want to promote Veremail, but many subscribers have quickly found themselves making more money through our program that the business they signed up into Veremail to promote in the first place! For more information on the affiliate program click here.
Let's Get Started
 
Roll up your sleeves and turn on your computer. Here's what you need to do today to boost your promotional email performance.
 
This checklist may instantly help you double your open rates.
 
Tactic 1: Send from a Credible Source
 
If your company has a wide presence and is well-respected in the industry, then your business name is perceived as a trusted source. Many people love Apple Computer, Inc. Any email that comes with "Apple News" or "Apple Update" gets their full attention.
 
If you're a smaller player you need a different strategy. You have two options. One is to use a personality name in the from line. If you're a recognized expert in your field and your site plays up your name and personality, you can have your emails carry your name in the from field.
 
Many ecommerce experts do this. By showing their name in the from line, the reader gets the feeling that the personality behind the site is actually writing to them (even though the email may actually be written by a hired copywriter and queued in an autoresponder mailing system).
 
When we adopted this tactic we found that customers often replied to the email as if the author had personally written to them. The bond between the writer and the customer became a lot stronger.
 
But if your site does not carry a personality as a brand then you should craft your from line to reflect the key benefit of your site. If your site is about helping insomniacs you can bet that people who sign up for your newsletter have a vested interest in curing their insomnia. Your from line should carry a message such as "Sleep Well Tips" rather than something like admin@insomnia-cure.com
 
Tactic 2: Watch Your Subject Line
 
This is probably the single biggest factor in improving your open rates.
 
Your subject line has a huge impact on your readers; it determines whether or not they open your message and read it. It needs to be brief and arouse curiosity.
 
Experiment with personalization, character length, and word choice to maximize your response rate. Testing is necessary to see what produces the best results; things that work well for someone else may not work for you and vice versa.
 
Because your subject line needs to be engaging, the words you use are very important. You want to make readers curious and at the same time convince them that there is indeed relevant information inside. Address those readers who may be questioning what's in it for them and wondering why they should bother opening it.
 
There are different ways you can use your subject line to attract the attention of your readers:
 
a. Use their name.
 
Personalization is highly effective in getting someone's attention. Depending on your marketing message, and the subscriber information you have on file, you can also mention other relevant personal attributes, such as city of residence, in your message.
 
Examples:
 

Rudolfo, share your photos online
 
Keisha, shop in Chicago and save!
 

b. Create a sense of urgency.
 
People are compelled to act when they know something is in short supply, e.g. a sale for this weekend only or a contest with 10 remaining entries.
 
Examples:
 

Boston Film Festival - 25 tickets left!
 
Mary, only 12 days left...
 
Digital Cameras on Sale This Week Only!
 

c. Arouse curiosity.
 
By making readers curious you can make them feel as if they may be missing out on something new, exciting, and beneficial. People like to be "in the know" and arousing their curiosity encourages them to open your email.
 
Examples:
 

How To Turn Subscribers Into Buyers
 
Revealed: The 8 Deadliest Spam Filter Violations
 
Herbert, I forgot to mention this
 
Alan, are you doing this?
 

d. Get intimate.
 
Avoid business-speak and instead use language and words more commonly found in personal emails. What would you do if you sent a friend a personal email and they did not reply in a timely manner? Well you might send them another email and ask a question such as "What went wrong?" or "Did you get my email yesterday?" Many copywriters use this same strategy.
 
Examples:
 

Anita, did you get your 3 free chapters yet?
 
Did you get the Audio We Sent You Yesterday?
 
Michelle, What did you think?
 

e. Emphasize a benefit.
 
You know why your audience joined your subscriber list - if you run a newsletter on "Fishing Tips" anyone who subscribes is obviously into fishing. So make your subject line offer a clear benefit to a fishing enthusiast.
 
Examples:
 

21 Successful Fishing Techniques
 
Li, Here's Your Free Fishing Report!
 
Here's the answer to your Bait and Tackle question
 

f. Ask a question.
 
A direct question not only creates curiosity but makes readers feel as if they are getting special, exclusive information. 
 
Examples:
 

Vic, have you seen our new site?
 
Did you get the Free Download We Sent Out?
 
Leena, Are you aware of this Recent Medical Discovery?
 

Using any of the above methods will be sure to produce results so long as your subject line is catchy and clearly conveys a way to make the reader's life simpler by saving them time, money, etc.
 
Make sure your subject line relates to the content of your message. You don't want your readers to feel tricked or misinformed and left with unanswered questions.
 
You can also apply these methods to writing headlines for the web.
 
Experts have already found certain 'patterns' for subject lines that get readers to open email. These patterns get repeated and emulated across the web. The subject lines we used as examples above follow these patterns.
 
Don't worry about spending hours dreaming up a totally original subject line. Simply go through the list above and pick a pattern or two that you can quickly adapt to your site and email list. And then start tweaking from there.
 
Stay Tuned for Part 3….The Final Conclusion