How To Optimize Your Opt-in Email Marketing Response

By: Alan Richardson

OK... you have a popular product or service bringing visitors to your website business. As an incentive for bringing those customers to your site on a regular basis you decide to offer an email newsletter with news and updates related to your product/service and industry. Your newsletter subscription attracts dozens of opt-in subscribers telling you they want to recieve your newsletter. And you've got enough material to fill a years worth of issues. Opt-in email marketing strategy accomplished? Not so fast.

The fact is, much of the newsletters sent out to eager subscribers neither get opened nor read. This is especially true for newsletter subscriptions built through promotional discount offers or a free software giveaway as an incentive for signing up. Oftentimes, the newsletter itself becomes just another piece of junk mail to be discarded with the rest of the cyber-trash. Certainly, a painful consequence for all the hard work you put into composing your gem.

But this need not be the consequence of your time and effort.You want your loyal subscribers to open and read the treasure chest of information you have to offer. The kind of intormation that gets them clamoring for more... to drive them to your website. To interest them in what you're selling. So, how do we do that? How do we get our customers to open our newsletter before hitting the delete button?

You do it by providing a subject line that grabs your readers attention and compels them to open your email to read more. Indeed, choosing a subject that interests your target audience and introducing that subject in a way which grabs your readers attention and pipues their curiosity is the surest guarantee to opt-in email marketing success.

Getting the email opened...

Creating a subject line that grabs your audience entails a short, concise, compelling phrase that evokes a strong emotion for your reader, and a curiosity for learning more. Remember, you have only a few seconds to pique that curiosity as the reader scans your subject line, before the trash or open decision is made.

Among the more popular email headline techniques are those which;

• Provide instructional tips, methods or advice. Use phrases such as; "How to...", "Tips for...", "Guides to...", "Methods for...", etc.
  
• Asks a compelling question. For example; "Are You Sick and Tired of Your Current Job?", "Is Your Boss Driving You Mad?". Depending on your product or service, the question heading evokes your customer emotions and prompts an answer that influences them to read more.
  
• Commands your reader. Statements such as "Act now to get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity". Or, "Double, triple, or even quadruples you earnings in 12 months" shout out the potential benefits your product or service provides and the desire to get more details.
  
• Announce breaking news. News announcements on subjects or interest to your customer, related to your product or service, are a sure way to create reader interest for learning more.

Reading the newsletter...

And of course, always remember. A subject line which gets your readers to open up your email is only part of the package. Without good content, written clearly and concisely, you lose the end result. Which is, to get your customers to your website to take advantage of all the great stuff you have to offer. But that's another article.  Tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them in an organized fashion... then tell them what you told them. You now have the formula for a successful opt-in email marketing campaign.

About The Author Alan Richardson is a well-known internet consultant and publisher with http://www.optimalwebservices.com - a Web resource firm in North Easton, Massachusetts, offering free advice and information for web-based small businesses and entrepreneurs. To read other articles by Alan, click here. To signup for the free 'Optimal Web Services for Small Business' ezine, click here