The Email Wars

I was driving home last night and thinking about a project I am working on for a client right now. They are having us work on their welcome messaging strategy and it had my brain churning. I am not sure why it was so important for me to think about, but I distilled it down to four things that I think are important when you are setting up a relationship via the opt in with email marketing. 

Identification, Trust, Understanding and Conversion. 

Identification:

You could make this simple: Who is sending this email and what will I know about them. Or you can think it out farther. We all know that you have a short time to capture the attention of the email reciepent. So what are the things you need to focus on? The from line, is it you or your brand. The subject line, what is the action you are intending them to take. If you can make this a Welcome/Thanks/You need to X subject line then you are ahead of the game.

This also lines up with the creative. Will they see your brand instantly? Will the creative match up with the look of the site that they were just on and carry over the voice of where they just came from online? You can focus on thinking about the split second reaction of the WHO to nail this. 

Trust: 

Did this email land in the inbox? If not you have some first touch issues with your IP or your reputation. You need to address this now. What are you placing infront of them? Are you using language that makes sense to the type of subscribers you are engaging? Showing the IP, date, page name etc that they just opted in from will not make sense to alot of people and in doing some might kill your trust factor. That tech jargon big brother can scare folks off. Think about how you would like to see it presented yourself in your own inbox. 

Understanding: 

You need to run the line of welcoming someone to your brand and then telling them the following. 

1. What they can expect to get from you and when.

2. How they can update or manage their profile and email frequency.

3. What next steps to take in the relationship. 

If you are using this to drive people to a certain offer or place you do not want any of the copy to interfere with this goal. You need to try not to write a book, but distill down the copy to what is important and can be read and digested fast. I know it might sound cliche, but the use of a well place and well designed button will outperform the text link everytime. 

Conversion or Conversation?

What is the next step of this email? It is a simple thanks for subscribing and here is what to expect? Is it used to introduce them to things that they might not have found in your site before? It is a way to drive a conversion of a goal or purchase? If you can think about what the opportunity is not only for your brand but for the relationship and value proposition of the subscriber you will know which of the two paths you are on.

These are the four things that I think about when I am designing or evaluating an email welcome campaign. In the end so many brands and email programs do not take this step. It is a foundation building step that comes after the double opt in and can mentally set the course of your relationship, retention and conversation. And in the end lift your conversion goals.