Email Marketing – Email Formats and Styles
In this lesson we’ll look a little further into how you can create the perfect email marketing document. Before you send it out, you’ll want to make sure that you hit all of these bases first. Then – and only then – will you be ready to press “send” and release your sales message into the world.
Creating an e-mail marketing document
The first consideration you want to make is in what format you will be sending it:
• Text
• Html
• Link-based
• PDF
Undoubtedly there are others, but these are the most common.
Text-based email marketing documents are one of the simplest to create. You simply type something into a document-creator like Notepad… or directly into your email content window. Text-based messages were very popular for a long time because most people used a dial-up system to access the internet and text-based messages were small files and could be loaded to the screen quickly. They are still popular, but are falling off, as people prefer something a little more visually appealing. You should consider, however, offering a text-based message as well, in case someone prefers that method. If you want to think of an offline comparison, you might think of a newspaper article: colorless but filled with information.
Here is an example, including the text and an embedded advertisement and link:
It’s almost time for spring gardening!
We’ve developed a comprehensive list of things you want to do to prepare your garden bed for planting. And later, you’ll discover the 3 tips that can help you determine which ones are weeds and which ones are plants you want to KEEP in your garden. And if you check out our website, we’ve provided a regional analysis of fertilizers so you can get the right fertilizer for your area of the country.
But first, a word from our sponsor:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
DISCOUNT TULIPS. It’s time to get those tulips in the ground. We sell the cheapest tulips. Credit cards accepted. Click here.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *How do you prepare your garden bed just after spring thaw? We outline the 6 steps you need to take to ensure that your garden
HTML-based email marketing documents are much less text-filled. They are more highly designed. They can use color, pictures, moving images, hyperlinks animation, and sound to convey the message. Many email marketing service providers (like the ones we covered a couple lessons back) offer html templates to help you build your message. You can also use Microsoft Word to build one, too, since later versions of the program will convert your documents to html for you. If you want to think of an offline comparison, you might think of a brochure: it combines text and images to convey the message.
Link-based. Although technically this email marketing type can be either a text-based or html based message, we have included it here under its own heading because it plays a different role than a text-based or html-based document. Text and html documents may contain links, but a links-based document has far less content within the document itself and far more links pointing someone elsewhere. If you are looking for an offline comparison, you might think of a menu: it describes an item and allows you to select that item.
We’ve included an example of a text-based linked message.
Spending too much time under the hood?
If you’re a mechanic, you get paid per job… rarely per hour. So you need tools that can do the job fast.
Make faster oil changes with this package of products.
Change a tire more quickly with this new tool.
Remove spark plugs AND clean them with this unusual device.
PDF document. This email marketing document sends little in the way of content within the document itself but rather sends an attachment – most commonly in PDF, although it could be in other formats – and the PDF document is meant to be downloaded and viewed at the audience’s leisure. The PDF document can be more like a catalogue or a newsletter or some other type of document that your audience might be inclined to save and refer back to again and again.
We haven’t included a PDF example simply because it can take so many forms.
How do you decide which one to choose? Choose the one that works best for your products and audience. Here are some thoughts to get you started
~ If you have an audience that doesn’t have a lot of time to read, don’t bother with a wordy document; consider a short text or html document or link-based document.
~ If you have a product that really needs to be seen in action to be appreciated, consider a linked based document that can take them to a page with an animation of your product in action.
~ If you have a product that looks good and there are plenty of great visual of people enjoying it, consider an html document or PDF file.
~ If you have a message that is very helpful to people and can be referred to over and over, consider a PDF file.
Summary
Your message can take on different forms (including more than one from the above list) depending on who your audience is and what kind of message they’d be most responsive to. Feel free to create a few different versions of your newsletter and ask around for opinions on which one is more effective.
Remember to take action…
You are Awesome!
–Dave
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