Digital marketers have a lot of threads to keep hold of. We get bogged down quite quickly. Sometimes the basics can be forgotten, so in this post I'm going to speedily run through some mailer basics. Use the below as a checklist to make sure you've covered the essentials for your campaign set up...

1. Make the most out of your mailer’s subject line

Holy macaroni! Your mailer is competing with god knows how many others in your intended recipients’ mailboxes – make it stand out by ensuring your subject line is engaging, relevant and snappy. 

Some say that including a symbol or emoticon in the subject line helps boost opens, but whether you include one or not should be down to your own sense of what’s appropriate. Shoe shop – yes. Medical consultancy – probably not. 

2. Link the masthead image to the same place your CTA button is going

If it’s standard practice for you to include some kind of visual at the top of your mailers, don’t waste the opportunity to link this through to the same place your call to action (CTA) is going. Sounds like an obvious tactic, but it’s easily missed with all the other things you’ve got to put in place before you release your campaign. Smart thinking, Batman.

3. Include ONE clear CTA

You’ve got someone to open your mailer – first obstacle; kapow!

Now they can see your message in full, the last thing you want them to be is confused about what to do next. Some mailers simply have too much going on in them to steer your audience to what you ultimately want them to do; whether it’s downloading a white paper, registering for an event, or directing them to the latest blog.

So basically, don’t include lots of different hyperlinks in one mailer unless there’s a real rationale for doing so.

Focus on one call to action (CTA) to avoid people clicking off somewhere else (then forgetting to come back). 

4. Keep copy necessary, informative and typo-free

Holy stopwatch! These days, it doesn’t matter whether you’re senior manager or a busy mum – people are generally time-poor, so your mailer needs to be as concise, error-free, and ‘to the point’ as possible so that your audience can easily and rapidly digest the message.

Add to this the fact that 55% emails are opened on a mobile device, and the argument for including fewer words becomes an even more valid one.

5. Put yourself in your end readers’ shoes

Think about the structure of your message when you’re putting content together – what is going to really speak to the reader, and resonate most effectively with them? Ensuring that you’re clearly offering some value in your mailer – whether it’s a piece of content, or a code to redeem online - is what's going to get you the results you want.

It’s not all about writing about how good you are as a company anymore - it’s about what you can do for your customer.

Add personalisation to your mailer draft – this is standard, and can often help with making the tone of the content that little bit friendlier. Bam!

6. Ensure you’ve got the right permission to mail your audience

It’s just good practice. We all have the right to stop receiving marketing emails if we want to, so make sure you’re giving your recipient the choice to unsubscribe at the bottom of your mailer. It sounds like a no-brainer, but some companies and organisations are still not following this rule of thumb. Just look up Article 17 - General Data Protection Regulation if you want to know more about ‘the right to be forgotten’ (we’re obviously talking about pre-existing Brexit regulation here). "Rules are rules, Robin."

7. Work out when to send your campaign

Do a bit of digging - use existing audience insight from your own system/s and industry reports to establish when the best time or day to send your mailers is. This isn’t always feasible if a campaign needs to be issued urgently, but if you are given the luxury of a bit of lead time, take advantage of this extra tactic and try to issue it at the optimum time. Quick, to the Batmobile!

8. Test everything!

Don't forget to test your links and destination landing page, check your 'from' address, and that everything looks and renders as it should. One small oversight can ruin all of your efforts up until this point; and it's no fun having to remail thousands of people with a replacement (corrected) mailer, let alone your boss finding out!  This small amount of time investment is so worthwhile. Pow!

Finally... consider remailing your campaign to non-openers (a few days later)

Now that you’ve sent your campaign, you’ve got the chance to look at the results. Who clicked? Who didn’t open it? Did anyone open more than once? Where did people click most? Etc etc..

Anyone who didn’t open your mailer should be hit with your campaign again. Before sending this time though, take a look at the engagement results in more detail (if your platform allows it), and see what lessons can be factored into optimising your remail template.

You could also make minor amends to both the opening paragraph of your mailer, and the subject line to make it appear like it’s a real follow-up, rather than just a plain resend of an identical mailer.

If it’s an event for example, you could amend the subject line to create a sense of urgency e.g. “places are filling up fast”.

"...Gentlemen, such pure logic is indisputable."

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