Ensure the IP address you are sending from is white-listed with prominent ISPs

Check who else is using the same IP address to send from and ensure you are happy with their reputation.

If you notice deliverability issues with a particular company, request to be white-listed by that organisation

Include “Add to safe sender list” functionality within all emails

Ensure you regularly clean bounced email addresses

Always pre-test your emails against spam filters and take any remedial action prior to send

Monitor over time your deliverability rates using seed lists and chart results so you can quickly spot anomalies

A good Email Service Providers (ESP) should be able to help you with these checks. They should have white listed IPs and have in-built Spam Checks and Seed Lists available for you to use.

Our service ReportMail does all of the above.

With a Solus email, you’re actively looking to solicit a response from a wide range of unknown recipients, who may not be familiar with your business.

Hopefully your media buyer has done a great job and bought a highly targeted list, but even so, you will need to make sure you have the best possible chance of converting the email recipients into clients.

Here are some handy tips to help your Solus emails engage with recipients and deliver better results.

The subject line

Three things you need to remember:

1. The success or failure of your email could well be down to its subject line.
2. Solus emails are different to newsletters; the recipients have a relationship with the website publisher not you and you are unable to control the “From address”.
3. You only get 50 characters to make the recipient act. Delete or Open?

For these reasons the subject line becomes even more important.

No pressure then – this is a topic in its own right. In my opinion these are the key factors in getting a subject line to work.

Don’t try and be too clever, just describe the subject of your email – an obvious one! But if you have gone to the effort of purchasing a Solus email it is likely that the subject of your email will be relevant to the people on that list. Explaining what’s in your email using the subject line allows them to understand that.

Curiosity killed the cat – we can’t help ourselves when confronted with something that intrigues us. So, do be provocative but try to avoid cheese. Allude to a story that the recipient will be disappointed if they miss. Don’t make up that story or they will be disappointed that you’ve tricked them.

Instill some urgency – if your launch offer period or your product rate is about to end. Tell them in the subject. Being told you have a limited time spurs you into action.

“Is this relevant to me?” They’re bound to be thinking this thought as they decide to delete or open. Write about the benefits that matter to your recipients not the features you’re proud of.

Questions are more enticing than statements, where relevant.

The email

You’ll probably be broadcasting your Solus email as part of an integrated campaign. If you want great results don’t just re-hash a press release or a printed ad and think it will do the job. Allow enough time to consider the email in its own right.

Remember, most people scan emails and skim-read the content.

Summarise the benefits of your offer and the calls to action in a clear and concise manner. Make sure this information is in text and prominent at the top of the page it should be easily readable and above the fold:

• In the plain text version
• In the HTML version
• With images off (use imagery only to support your offer or brand not as the primary source of information – one common mistake is relying on imagery to portray your company name).
• In a horizontal preview pane
• In a vertical preview pane
• In all common email clients and if you work in the B2B financial services industry, don’t forget to test in Lotus Notes!

Personalise
Even though it’s a Solus email it is still possible to personalise the email with the recipient’s name. You are instantly engaging with the recipient and they will appreciate that you’ve made the effort to do so as a result they are far more likely to respond to your offer.

Build rapport – get inside the mind of your recipient and write copy that addresses their needs. Tell them the benefits of your offer and guide them to take action. Ask the publisher if it is possible to segment the list any further to enable you to tailor the content or tone of voice specifically for each smaller group.

Calls to action the dos and don’ts. Don’t just say click here as this doesn’t explain, to the scanning eye, what the link leads to – it also becomes very repetitive and boring. Don’t just use underlined words and assume the reader will click them. Do tell your recipient what you want them to do. E.g Download our “Guide to ISAs” now or if you_must_use the click word try: Click here to download our “Guide to ISAs” now.
Repeat key calls to action several times throughout the email. Ensure all calls to action have an obvious prominent text link and do not rely on imagery.

Expand your database – use this as an opportunity to expand your in-house database by including a link so recipients can register to receive your email updates. As this is a cold audience you may need to include an incentive or really stress the benefits of your email services to boost this conversion rate.

Imagery
Use imagery to visually promote your message and enhance and support your brand. As they say a picture tells a thousand words…
However, be aware of the file size for the images you are using, remember not everyone has super speed Internet connections.

Sign off
Sign your email off from a real person. Even better include a scanned in image of your signature with a return email address and a telephone number. This will build trust with the recipients and endorse the fact that this is a genuine offer.

Your contact information
Always include your contact information, including your company name, address, telephone number and registered number – this information builds trust in the recipient’s mind.

Terms and conditions
If there are any terms and conditions relevant to your offer include these or a clearly marked link to these in your email.

SPAM phrases
Avoid words that might lead to your email getting blocked in SPAM filters. E.g Free, Cheap, Offer. Most spam filters publish lists of words to avoid. If you do need to include words that might trigger a spam filter like cheap or free, putting them in an image is a good way to ensure your email won’t get blocked.

Unsubscribe / Privacy policy
Most of the Solus email providers will automatically take care of this for you – as they are sending on your behalf they will need to ensure the emails are legally compliant. However do check.

A few technical tips

1. Keep the width of your email to less than 550 pixels, this way the recipient won’t need to scroll left and right
2. Keep total file size (including imagery) of your email to less than 60KB – even though most people have broadband – connection speeds still vary dramatically.
3. Don’t include:
   • Cascading Style Sheets – email clients are far less sophisticated than web browsers and an email with CSS style sheets will not display correctly in most email clients.
   • Animated GIFs – these won’t rotate in many email clients, so your reader will only see the first frame.
   • Flash / ASP / JavaScript – all of these will result in your email getting blocked by firewalls / spam filters. Potentially they could all be used to run nasty scripts on a recipient’s computer.
   • Background images – Outlook 2008 and Lotus Notes will not display these

Reporting

Check what level of reporting the publisher will be able to provide you with. You can always add tags to your links from your own web statistics software e.g. EVisit Analyst, Google Analytics; or your media buyer may have their own tags.

It’s important that you keep track of:

• Open rates
• Click throughs by link
• Post click analysis – what happened after the click, what did these visitors do when they reached your website. This is the most important information. Getting clicks is great but potentially meaningless if visitors aren’t going on to perform a desired action on your website – even if it’s just to visit your contact page. It’s a good idea to set an objective before the email is broadcast, even if direct applications are not relevant – e.g. hits on a thank you page after an enquiry form is completed, or brochure downloads, or visits to your contact page. All of these conversions can be measured using a good analytics package. You will then be in a position to evaluate your cost per conversion.

How to test your email

We thoroughly test our client’s emails even if they are being broadcast to a third party Solus list.

These tests must include:

A SPAM Filter test at the following levels:

• Desktop – the recipients own PC/MAC
• Network – their corporate firewalls
• ISPs – their or their corporation’s Internet Service Provider

A good tool will highlight what might cause your email to fail, whether it’s because you’re using words that a spam filter may not like or maybe there are problems at a technical level

A link check – you don’t want a broken link getting in the way of conversion

A spell check – yes obvious!

A Reporting check – are clicks are showing up in your web stats?

A rendering check – how will your email display in any of the 64 main email clients, how about a hand-held device like a Blackberry? How will it look it look if the preview pane is on the right or any of the other variables I mentioned earlier?

Our email marketing system ReportMail has an in-built test centre that caters for all of these tests. We test any Solus email we build free of charge.

And probably most importantly always do a sense check – get several people in your organisation who have not been involved with the email to take a look at it and let you know what they think.

Questions for the Publisher

If you’re negotiating your own Solus email it is worth asking the publisher the following questions before going ahead:

• How clean is the data? i.e. what is their policy for removing bounces and unsubscribes
• How frequently is the list mailed?
• Can they provide you with average open and click through rates for that particular list?
• Will they host images at no extra cost?
• Can the email be personalised?
• Is it possible to segment the list any further?
• What reporting can they provide?

And once you’re done…

…do it again!

Take out individuals who have responded and do a slightly different follow-up email to the same database. Recent research shows that you might expect a 25% increase in response rates from the second campaign.

My disclaimer: This article has been written to provide advice for getting the most from your Solus emails and not your regular communication to your own database – more on that another time.