OK, so you want to know how to send a mass email to your subscribers, but you don't want it to sound like spam and you want it to be effective. Also, you want to get it out quickly so you don't have time to read a hundred guides about email marketing. You want to review the most important points and make sure your email sounds good. Or perhaps you're just starting out with mass emailing and you want to make sure you have a good handle on the basics before you start your additional research.
Either way, we're here to provide the top tips that you need to know before you send out a mass email. We have also included links with more information if you wish to read more.
Tips to Live by for Mass Emailing
1. Everyone on your mass emailing list must be an opt-in subscriber. Oh did we say must? Sorry, we meant MUST. If you send unsolicited email messages, that is considered to be spam. You can avoid the dreaded spam label (which will hurt your mass email deliverability and your business's online reputation) by only using opt-in subscriber lists. Check out our email list building blog post if you want to know more about how you can get customers to opt in to your mass email newsletters. Also, don't ever rent or buy mass email lists. And include an easy way for subscribers to opt out in each email you send, in case any of them do not wish to receive any more of your email messages.
2. You should be familiar with email marketing regulations before you send out any mass emailing messages. If you aren't following spam guidelines as well as the laws of the countries to which you are sending, your mass email marketing will go nowhere.
3. Your email newsletter subject line should be eye-catching yet straightforward, and should avoid spam words. Your email subject line is your first chance to connect with your subscribers. Of course you want subscribers to be intrigued, so you can say something like "The Five Things You Need to Know About Buying a Car" or "The Best Mac and Cheese Recipe Ever." Be careful not to include words like "Free" or "Cash" and don't put your title in ALL CAPITALS. You can see a more complete list of spam trigger words here. Studies have also found that mass email subject lines perform best with email subscribers when they are direct and truthful about what is in the email. Subscribers want to know what is in the email before they open it, so let them know in the subject line that there is a 25% off coupon for them inside.
4. In most cases, try to keep your mass email newsletters short. Subscribers tend to skim longer email messages anyway, so stick to your most important points. If you want to include additional information, you can always add links to online sources (such as blog posts, articles or other information) so interested subscribers can click to find out more.
5. Don't include too many images or graphics in your mass email messages. A lot of images can make your emails slow to load and may cause display issues. Also, many subscribers do not allow images to display, so they may just show up as white space. To avoid this problem, use a mass email marketing program that automatically creates a text-only version of your emails.
6. In order to make your mass email effective, you need to add calls to action. A call to action is something that encourages your subscribers to take the action you want them to, such as making a purchase or signing up for a webinar. A call to action may be "Click to Sign Up" or a button with "Purchase Now." You can read more about the call to action here. It is a great idea to include your call to action more than once throughout your mass email message, to help draw attention to it.
7. Offer exclusive promotions that are only available through your mass email newsletters. You need to provide your subscribers with some sort of coupon, information or deal that gives them a great reason to open your mass email messages.
8. Make sure every mass email that you send out is optimized for mobile viewing. The majority of mass email subscribers now check emails on their mobile devices, so if your emails do not display properly, you will alienate many of your subscribers.
9. Before you send out your mass email newsletter, test it! Make sure everything is spelled correctly and displays correctly on computers, tablets, and smartphones.
10. After you send, review and analyze your data in order to optimize future mass email messages. Learn more about analyzing your email marketing data.
Want to see SimplyCast's mass emailing solution in action? Click the button below to sign up for a demo!
Also, check out the updated version of this blog: 5 Best Quick Tips: Sending a Mass Email using a Marketing Automation Platform as part of our Flashback Friday blog series!
