Extreme Makeover: Email Campaign Edition!

Five Steps to Creating Better Email Campaigns

by Gail Goodman,  Constant Contact CEO

Are you familiar with the television show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition!? Every week, audiences watch as the makeover team transforms the house of one deserving family into a masterpiece. This month we are borrowing this theme for our Hints & Tips article. We gave our Campaign Makeover Contest winner, EnergyImages.Com, L.L.C., a campaign extreme makeover and we want to provide you with the tools to give yourself one as well.

There are a lot of things you can do to remake your campaigns. We've chosen to focus on five areas that can make a big difference. Look at your latest campaign as you read through this article and make notes about things you would like to change when you do your makeover.

In addition to the article, we have two other tools you can use to improve your campaigns: our Marketing Program Makeover Checklist and a free live Campaign Makeover Webinar (web-based seminar). Let's get started.

#1 - Have a Clean Look and Feel

When you walk into a friend's house for the first time, what is one of the initial things you notice? You notice whether or not the house is clean, right? A cluttered house doesn't make a good impression and neither does a cluttered email campaign. Don't be afraid of white space. The words you are writing and the images you are using need room to breathe or they will lose their impact. Try eliminating 30-50% of your text. Look for ways to be more concise. For example, you could link to your website to finish an article or to give further details about a promotion.

The misuse of colors and fonts can make an email campaign look messy. Using a bright or dark color as a text background is generally not a good idea. Lighter colors, for a background, not only contribute to the clean look and feel, but they make the text much easier to read. Other tips are to keep body text dark (blue, black, gray) and limit yourself to two fonts, possibly one for titles and another for body text. Also, feel free to use bold and italics when needed. A hodgepodge of colors and fonts make one sloppy-looking email.

#2 - Make Campaigns Visually Interesting

It is possible for a campaign to be clean, but not visually interesting. You may have just the right amount of text, but have little color or images to attract the eye. I've seen many email newsletters that have no images, and the first word that comes to mind is "boring." The familiar saying, "a picture tells a thousand words", is true. It's also true that a picture makes an email communication a thousand times more interesting.

In the same way that color can be overused or misused, it can also be underutilized. I will talk more about color when addressing branding, but I encourage you to use some color in your campaigns. Choose colors that are not jarring to look at on the screen. Muted tones work better than vibrant colors. As a rule, pick two contrasting colors or pick one color and use other shades that correspond (for example: different shades of blue).

How do you use images? If you are selling a product, including an attractive and interesting image will make a big difference. In your case, you would do well to pick a campaign that allows for a number of images. If you are a nonprofit thanking your donors for giving to a recent fundraiser for children, include the smiling face of a child who was helped by their donations.

#3 - Build and Support Your Brand

Branding isn't just for the big guys. It's important for small businesses too. To build a consistent brand, all of your materials should have a consistent look and feel that communicates the personality and purpose of your business. Pick an email template with a design that complements your website and other marketing materials. Once you find a campaign that works for you, customize it and stick with it.

If you want an email template that mirrors your website, you can always hire a designer to create a custom template for you or learn how Constant Contact can do it for you.

As a part of building your brand, it's also important to include your logo in your email campaigns. You can use your logo colors to come up with the color pallet for your campaigns.

#4 - Give a Clear Call to Action

What do you want your receivers to do as a result of reading your email? Do you want them to visit your website, buy a particular product, or perhaps attend an event? Make sure that whatever you are asking them to do is clear, concise, and prominently displayed in the campaign. It's most effective to have one call to action per communication.

There should be no question in your receivers' minds as to what you are asking them to do. Placing call-to-action phrases accompanied with links or phone numbers in the beginning, middle, and end of the email will help to make sure your readers know how to act on your offer. How you call your readers to action is also important. Using phrases like "buy it now" and "sign up today" will make your call to action even more compelling.

#5 - Preview Your Campaigns Before Sending

You know that you should always send yourself a test campaign before sending it out to your list. Although your test campaign looks great on your screen, it may look different to your receivers.

Some receivers will read your message in a preview pane. This means that only the first three inches of your email will be seen without scrolling. Make sure that the first part of your message really grabs the reader's attention.

Always preview your email in the "text only" (non-HTML) format. There are still those who only receive text emails and, additionally, there are more and more people who are now checking their email via a handheld PDA.

Lastly, preview your campaigns without images. Not everyone who receives your emails will be able to see the images. Some consumer email systems, like AOL, have default settings that block images. You should know what your email looks like when your images are hidden or blocked.

Impress Readers with Your Improved Email Campaign

In the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition!, the family whose home was reconstructed typically sheds tears of joy when they see the changes that have been made. While I doubt that those on your email list will have tears in their eyes when they see your new and improved campaign, I'm sure they will be impressed! And most importantly, your email marketing efforts will be more effective.