E-mail is ‘white-hot’ right now. The last thing companies want is for it to start a fire in prospects' trash by getting deleted! Take a closer look at the following five rules that all communicators and marketers ought to keep ‘top of mind’  to maximize results.

Make image secondary to offers

• E-mail arrives unannounced and must communicate a logical, quickly-absorbed and obvious reason for prospects to respond immediately.
• It's best to tailor designs to fit the copy, not the other way around.

TIP: If an e-mail flops, start with surgery on the "from" and "subject" lines to make the offer and benefit more clear.

Appeal to emotion over intellect

• A topic / offer that directly appeals to prospects' emotions will always out perform a more intellectual offer.

Example: A prospect who reads, "Employment References – We love to get them and we are not sure if we should give them," may cause the reader to wonder – "What exactly does that mean?”  

Better: Aim to initially resolve prospects' potential confusion, with a message like, "Employment References Can Create a Legal Catch-22 – We Love to Get Them, but Fear Sharing Them."

Cut clicks

• Every time prospects have to click through to another page, response drops.

Example: Linking to a company Web site to complete a purchase or to link to an article in its entirety may be necessary, but it will result in some lost prospects. Make sure the first click takes them to the most important page.

Follow the F-pattern

• A person’s dominant reading pattern typically follows an F-shape, as readers nowadays have short attention spans. It's important to put crucial information and primary calls-to-action inside the F-pattern:

1. Prospects first read horizontally, moving across the upper part of the screen (the F's top bar)
2. Next, prospects move down the page and slightly across (the F's lower bar)
3. Finally, prospects do a quick vertical scan of what remains on the left side of the page (the F's stem).

Be specific

• Specifics outperform generalizations when it comes to including prices, discounts, benefits and even product names. Also, precise results like a "50 percent cost savings" or a "30 percent boost in productivity" are more convincing and compelling.

If you would like to receive more information on how to create an e-mail marketing communications program and/or need some help on how to improve your existing program, please contact Debbie Israel, APR at 215-628-3640 or disrael@profitcommunications.com.  Debbie is the President of PROFIT Communications and an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America [PRSA] – Philadelphia Chapter, and a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners [NAWBO].