 |
 |
| July 2008 |
|
 |
| Optimization |
Creative Briefs: Your Map to Message Success
By Stefan Pollard
Is a silent battle brewing in your email creative?
If you don't write a clear, concise brief that states the email message's goal to be conveyed through the creative design, the individual elements – subject line, headline, images, copy and layout – can end up fighting each other for the reader's attention.
Result: Your message gets lost in a welter of confusion. The reader tunes out. And, a tuned-out reader rapidly becomes an ex-reader.
We spend so much time talking about the behind-the-scenes activity in email publishing – deliverability, authentication, subscription practices, segmentation, list hygiene – that the message itself gets neglected.
Click to Continue
|
|
Dear Reader,
This month, we detour from the technical aspects of email delivery to outline two key steps in the creative process that many marketers overlook:
writing a strong creative brief, and having a checklist to spot and correct errors before you hit "send."
Read on to learn how advanced creative planning can pay off in better performance of your email program.
Stefan Pollard
Editor |
|
|
|
| Delivery Trends |
Emailers Flunk the Unsubscribe Test
By Stefan Pollard
A Lyris survey found recently that almost half of marketers never test their unsubscribe function once they set it up. One in four tests it only after getting a complaint that it doesn't work.
Given that 60% of marketers rely on their list software to manage the process automatically, this means lots of marketers are skating close to noncompliance with CAN-SPAM by not removing addresses on demand. What other sins are they (or you?) committing?
Read my ClickZ column to find out.
Click to Continue
|
|
|
|
| Stat Watch |
Marketers Miss the Tag on Images
Image suppression is a fact of life for email marketers today, but a third to a half of retail emailers fail to change their designs to deal with the challenge, according to an Email Experience Council study that examined email sent by 104 top ecommerce marketers and that surveyed 472 marketing executives.
Those that did change their designs saw marked improvement:
- 42% of email messages mix images and HTML text.
- 63% use alt text to describe blocked images.
- 3% were "unintelligible" when viewed with images off.
- 47% of marketers said their email designs had been redone to allow for blocked images.
- 38% tested for improved performance after redesigning.
Of that group:
32% reported higher open rates.
32% reported higher click-through rates.
17% reported higher conversions.
47% reported 10% improvement or higher.
$4.40: Estimated improvement in ROI after redesign.
Source: Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study - June 2008
|
|
|
|
| Ask Lyris |
How to Design for Blocked Images
Question: What's the best way to design an email message to allow for image blocking, but still end up with an attractive message that doesn't look amateurish or spammy?
Answer: It's hard to give up the dream of email messages that look as realistic as your print ads, but it's more important that the reader get the gist of your message, even if it gets conveyed in text.
Click to Continue
|
|
|
|
| About Lyris |
Lyris (OTCBB:LYRI.OB) is the online-marketing expert that delivers the right mix of technology and industry knowledge to help you simplify your marketing efforts and optimize campaign ROI. Its EmailLabs® email-marketing solution is rated highest in both market suitability and overall business value for small-to-midsize businesses (JupiterResearch E-mail Marketing Buyer's Guide, 2008). EmailLabs is now part of the company's Lyris HQ™ integrated marketing platform that provides 360-degree control of campaigns, from email to pay-per-click to Web content management and analytics.
For more information, visit Lyris.com or EmailLabs.com. Call 888-GO-LYRIS (888-465-9747). |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
