How can you raise your e-newsletter click rates the way Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory did? Arthur Hughes, senior strategist at e-mail marketing company Silverpop and author of the new book, Strategic Database Marketing, says it’s a matter of constant monitoring. “Besides looking at your click rate in a single mailing, be sure to get a monthly total so you can measure whether you are getting better or worse,” says Hughes. Here are five specific steps from Hughes on lifting your clicks:
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Use video in your e-mails. A 2011 Forrester report indicated that video can double or triple e-mail click-through rates.
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Personalize it. E-mails that use the sender’s name and relevant data will improve click rates. Ideally, the “letter writer” should personally “sign” the e-mail and, if possible, provide a photo.
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Use Flash. If you have something interesting to say, alert the reader by using a creative Flash message that can’t be ignored.
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Do an A/B test. Restaurant chain Piccadilly tested two e-mail creative possibilities for its Easter campaign and discovered that its second image/call to action option yielded an eight-times higher conversion rate.
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Start sentences, but don’t finish them. Accommodate a recipient’s predilection for scanning by creating teaser paragraphs and provide a link to the rest of the information.
PR News subscribers can read more about how Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory improved its click rates in the case study: "To Boost Awareness, Research Lab Transforms Heavy Science Content Into PTA-Consumable NetLetter."