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Sometimes, amateur email marketers remain amateurs. They never turn into professional winners or even experience an increase in return on investment because they don’t bother with the small things. An amateur sends a dull looking newsletter and/or campaign, never checks his stats and can’t be bothered to improve on anything because it’s “just a quick newsletter ”.  You know the type – the ones that fob things off and can't see the potential goldmine on which they are sitting. Hello Mr Amateur – you’ll never become pro with that attitude!

There are those that turn from amateur email marketers to pro literally overnight. They experience email marketing success and a marked increase in their return on investment; and pros always try to improve their email campaigns. How do they do it? Well, pro email marketers spend a large proportion of their time researching and implementing new trends and features. They stay on top of the internet game by researching, being creative, keeping an open mind and  they almost always check their deliverability, stats and bounced rates to see where and how they can improve their email campaign. When you go pro you'll find your eflyers, promotional campaigns and newsletters will positively affect your company brand.

So, how do you turn pro and lose your amateur status? You follow a few basic guidelines as set out below, you learn some new skills and you brush up on the old ones!


1) Newsletter templates that suit your brand

Whether you design a newsletter from scratch; or choose to modify it from an email newsletter template you have chosen, make sure it reflects your brand. Keep the colors and layout in line with both your current website and company logo. You want your brand to carry some weight -  consistency builds brand recognition. Also, think laterally when it comes to what your user wants and expects. For example, if I am wanting financial advice, I expect accuracy. I do not want a funky pink newsletter or an email newsletter with broken links and everything misaligned. Financial institutions want to be taken seriously, to look stable, secure and organized. So, maybe going for simple conservative colors and a geometric layout will benefit you as it gives you credibality within your industry. Colors and layout can impact what subscribers think of your company!

2) Ensure you have text and html formats

Keep your text short and simple. Nobody has the time to wade through pages of unimportant information. Ensure your most important information is text and not an image. Certain email browsers won’t be able to read images. When you design your email newsletter ensure you have both a text and HTML format. Cover all your bases. 

3) Images and layout

Go for a simple layout so people can scan for the information they need. Once again, I don't want to have to search for information in a confusing layout - slap me in the face with your information; short and quick! Embed your images in a newsletter so that your subscribers don’t have to open attachments. And when choosing images or icons make sure they actually go hand in hand with the content of your newsletter. Less is more, lets remember that!

4) A clear call to action

Your readers must know what you expect them do when they receive your newsletter. Which link must they click on to purchase a product? Tell your readers what to do, make the path clear and easy to follow. Be organized with your sends, decide when you want to send out your monthly newsletter and stick the that send date. It shows you are reliable and organized. In the internet world people like being told what to do and how to do it. Too much spontaneity and freedom of choice makes us scared and confuses us. Simplicity and reliability are key.

5) Test and preview

The small broken image in the corner of your newsletter will get noticed. There will always be somebody that notices spelling errors and a kaleidoscope of link colors! Don't think anything will go unnoticed. Pro email marketers preview and test their email campaigns.  Send yourself a test email before sending it to your subscribers!

6) Opt-in, spam and subscriber information

It is not ethical to send your email campaign to email addresses that have not signed up for your newsletter. You run the risk of being branded a spammer, and spammers are heavily frowned upon. Signing up for a newsletter is called the “opt-in” process and a pro email marketer will always have an “unsubscribe” button at the footer of his newsletters; giving his readers the option of opting-out. Pro email marketers always have legitimate sign ups!

Let's take the subscriber sign ups further. It’s all very well getting subscribers to opt-in for your newsletters but what happens if you want to group certain subscribers together at a later stage? Say, for example you want to send a promotion to just woman between the ages of 24 – 40; how would you go about doing this if you don't have that information on file? It makes sense then that you need to think carefully about the information you need from your subscribers – take into account future campaigns you may want to implement.

We have a useful tool called customer list segmentation, which allows you to target a segmented group of clients that fit a specific profile. The profile is based on criteria that you have set (demographics, geo-location). You can only use this tool if you have extracted a range of information from your subscribers; so, once again - plan what you want and need from your email campaign!

7) List cleansing

Are you certain that readers who subscribed to your newsletter 5 years ago are still interested in your product and your company? Maybe they have moved to another country and maybe their interests have change. If you want to improve your open rate think about asking readers to subscribe again, or if subscribers haven't opened, say the last 5 of your newsletters, double check with them if they want to receive your newsletter or delete their email address all together!


8) Check your statistics

Keep up to date with your statistics, your open rates and your click throughs. Think laterally about why your newsletters aren’t being opened. Did you send it during the school holidays? Did you send it at the wrong time of day and is your product only suitable for a certain sector of your subscribers? Keep researching and keep tweaking that email newsletter!

It's up to you - do you want to become a pro email marketer or forever remain an amateur?