Email Marketing Newsletters - Create Effective Calls to Action

Thousands of email marketing newsletters are published and sent daily. The number of emails received by an average consumer ranges from 10 to 50 per day. As these email marketing newsletters appear in their inboxes, the recipients quickly scan the message subject and sender line and then decide whether to open or delete the emails. Given this, a strong call to action in the subject line should be used to motivate subscribers to open your email newsletter.

Compelling subscribers to read your email marketing newsletters is the most challenging task for email marketers. Most subscribers need to recognize the origin of the email newsletter and be presented with a strong call to action in the subject line for them to open it. Once the email newsletter is opened, your call to action should be presented in a focused and eye-pleasing layout combined with well-defined and concise product or service information, and clearly defined steps for subscribers to follow through.

Your best email marketing practices should also include a balance of information regarding your business, non-sales articles, and visual appeal. This balance can only be achieved with fully-featured html email marketing templates. The use of html allows for the inclusion of image links, well-defined subject and article sections, a table of contents with links to sections within the newsletter, audio and video players, and text or image animation. All of these elements require the use of an html email newsletter template.

Html email marketing templates are offered by several email marketing companies, but not all web-based email marketing software is created equal. As an email marketing executive, your challenge is to sift through all the hype with a ‘try before you buy’ approach by taking advantage of free email marketing trial offers. The best email marketing services offer 30- to 60-day free trials in which you can test their web-based email marketing software.

During your testing phase, determine the ease in which you are able to include your calls to action, images, links, multimedia, and information. Test your free email marketing newsletter with as many subscribers as the email marketing company will allow. For a comprehensive comparison, you should test several of the best email marketing services at the same time. Choose different test groups for each. Compare open and click through rates and request opinions and feedback from your test group with a short survey or a series of questions they can answer by return email. At the end of this process, you will have a better understanding of your subscribers' preferences regarding everything from your calls to action to the organization and layout of your email marketing newsletter. These easy but effective steps will ensure your subscribers will look forward to receiving your email newsletters and more likely to respond with purchases and participation.