Emails From The Client Side – Levels of Engagement
As we continue to grow, we are constantly fielding questions around our solution and its ability to perform strategically no matter what vertical they are in. One common theme from our clients is "levels of engagement." A recent email from the client-side asked us this: My engagement levels have peaked in many of my programs, and I'm trying to determine if it would be a better use of time to build on these or if I should focus on creating new campaigns where I can start with a lower engagement rate but perhaps achieve a higher conversion rate as a result. What do you think? How do your subscribers compare across the various programs you manage? [...]
Conversions are Key: Great Sales Emails Use Alt Text
Email is one of the most powerful tools in any marketer's toolbox. It can be used to augment anything from email newsletters, social media promotions and announcements, and even your website. When you send an email that includes a call-to-action (CTA) button or an image, it's important to include alt text so email recipients know what they will find when they click on that link. Great Sales Emails use Alt Text - Period! The issue is alt text and I’m taking a stand. Lack of alt text is a wasted opportunity and I simply do not understand why it happens. Do you see a problem with this email screenshot? This email is missing alt text. [...]
Purging Your Subscribers: How to Determine Who Needs To Be Purged
Check your marketing ego at the door, people, because at some point in your email career, you will be faced with the decision to purge subscribers from your email program. Purging your subscribers is a great way to maintain the legitimacy of your database. What does purging mean? Purging means that you take a pre-defined segment of subscribers and remove them from your sendable database. Here, the operative term is "pre-defined," which means that you need to agree on what parameters make up the need to kick the subscribers to the curb. There are almost always spam accounts lingering on your subscribers' list. DEFINING THE PURGING SEGMENT Let's be clear; there is no definitive definition or [...]
Take Your Transactional Emails from Dull to Dynamic
If you're sending transactional email, you already know transactional emails get a much higher open rate than other ESP marketing emails—from 40% to 85% higher depending on the source you turn to. You probably also know that’s rarely because they’re compelling and interesting. Nope, they’re usually boring. They are literally a transactional message. Yet people open them. Why? The high open rate happens because these emails are expected. I order something, and then I get an email confirming I ordered it. Then another when it ships. As a typical consumer, I look for these emails so I can track my purchases and know when they’ll arrive. As an email copywriter, I dread these emails from my [...]
DMARC: what it is and why you need it now.
With the rise in email scams, it is more important than ever to be sure that your business's emails are authentic. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance) is an email validation system designed to protect your organization's email domain from spoofing and phishing scams. It uses your existing email authentication protocols such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail) to determine your email message's authenticity. It adds an essential piece of functionality of reports back to the domain owner, who can then decide who is sending email on their behalf. DMARC: what is it? The DMARC tool adds a level of certainty on whether an email is legit. In a nutshell, [...]
7 Hidden Costs of Switching Email Service Providers (ESP)
If you’re switching email service providers, one of the questions that’s likely top of mind is, what will it cost to move from one ESP to another? Although there are steps you can take to make the ESP migration easier, you still might not understand the real costs. Based on anecdotal evidence from watching—and helping—clients switch email service providers, both before and during their engagements with iPost, I’ve pulled together some hidden costs to consider to help you understand those real costs associated with switching ESPs. Please note: This is not a breakdown of the costs of switching email service providers, nor a guide to figuring out if the cost is worth it. It is, however, [...]
Doing an ESP Migration? Avoid These 7 Pitfalls
For Basic ESP Q & A, refer to this previous post for What is an ESP?. You thought going through the ESP selection process was hard? It might look like a walk in the park compared to the actual ESP migration. Moving from one ESP to another involves many different people and parts, and how well you do the migration affects how quickly you’ll be up and running with your new ESP. It’s worth doing it well! Yet it’s also fraught with potential pitfalls. At iPost, we see the after effects of ESP migration pitfalls when organizations come to us with issues such poor deliverability, inefficient processes, or lack of insight into how to take advantage [...]
5 reasons email copywriting is different
Email marketers & business owners usually assume email copywriting is easy. Or they assume it’s like writing any other kind of marketing copy. But they’re wrong. If you want to succeed with email marketing in 2022 and beyond, it’s time to start learning how to write killer emails. To really learn email copywriting, it takes a lot of experience, testing, trial, and error, etc. You might be wondering what makes email copywriting different? Here are five reasons email copywriting is different, and also learn how to write like an expert copywriter. Reason 1: Your email copywriting is showing up in someone’s email inbox. Showing up in your email subscribers' inbox or on their phone is much [...]
Are Long Emails Bad? How Long Should an Email Be?
Are Long Emails Bad? You Have Been Mislead. In recent years people in the email industry have led you to believe that you should stop writing long emails because email subscribers don't read long emails anymore. Email marketing strategists and thought leaders have subsequently encouraged you to write shorter emails (50 to 125 words - 200 words) or image-heavy with little copy and bullet points because subscribers "scan." The industry has said that no one likes to scroll on emails unless you have valuable content, and only then should you have your most valuable content at the top to grab their attention. Captain Obvious called on the former and asked that I tell you "HOGWASH" on [...]
Gmail Inbox Deliverability – Prevent Gmail Spam
GMAIL IS EMAIL KING. Gmail is a big deal for B2C email marketers. Gmail email addresses can make up 40-80% of your list and cause headaches for marketers who need to have high inbox placement to be successful. Gmail has over 1.5 billion users, a vast email client market share, and is always innovating around the email experience while continuously improving its algorithms to determine inbox placement and delivery of your messages. They are demanding that marketers become better at email marketing, and we at iPost agree. We understand your goal is to prevent mail to Gmail users from being blocked or sent to spam. GMAIL ALGORITHM HACKS Let's be clear; there are no hacks or [...]
Marketing Cloud Alternatives: When You Want Features, Not Headaches
For all those marketers searching for marketing cloud alternatives, it’s a bit confusing, right? I mean, we’re talking about huge Fortune 100 companies that have been around for years and are so well-known that people make memes about using them. Yet marketers have experienced so many headaches that they are actively seeking out marketing cloud alternatives instead. I suspect it’s because marketers want to be able to do what the big marketing clouds promise without having to work so hard and pay so much to do so. They want the features, but they do not want the headaches that come with implementing or using those features. And they’re at the point when they realize they need [...]
Email Trends: 13 Email Marketing Trends Predictions for 2021
2020 SUCKED (1 Star ⭐) 2020 was a year of consolidation and regurgitation in the email industry. Companies merged, were bought, and even changed names, while the industry managed to talk about the same stuff that we were talking about 10-15 years ago. The operative words in the industry were personalization, automation, and the "New Normal." While 2020 did suck, it quickly reminded us that pivoting our strategies was not a bad thing, and those that were quick and agile faired far better than those that just followed. Email Marketing Trends Predictions In 2021, more of the same will happen across the industry. Companies will consolidate, and "personalization" will be a hot topic of many posts [...]
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