Email Design

While sifting through the many emails in my inbox last week I noticed that one of the campaigns I was working on included this little gem:

Subscribers Rule
You have heard us preach that Subscribers Rule, we’ve instructed you on making content relevant to your subscribers, now it’s time to ask your subscribers what they think of your email.  Why not let your subscribers tell you if they think your emails are relevant? There are a few ways that we have seen this ranking of email being used.

• Buttons: Let your users give your email a thumbs up or thumbs down.  As you can imagine this technique does not reveal any more information than whether the subscriber enjoyed reading your email or not.  You can view the number of clicks on each button in tracking to determine the overall “score” of the email.
• Link to Surveys: Include a link to rank your email, but instead of thanking them for the click, direct them to a landing page with a survey.  This landing page is where they can elaborate on what they feel made the email relevant  - or not. Ask them if you are meeting their expectations and if you are not, take the time to find out what those expectations are. Surveys are one of the best ways to find out what your subscribers are experiencing.

Tips
Remember to keep it short and to the point. The more confusing your review process is, the more likely the subscriber will become frustrated and navigate away before hitting the submit button.  You may also want to limit the audiences reviewing your email marketing campaign to a few at a time.

 If you would like your subscribers to spend more time giving you detailed feedback, you may want to include some sort of incentive.  Back in October, Amazon invited me to take a survey about what would re-engage me as a subscriber to their email marketing program. As a reward for taking 30 minutes out of my day to navigate what seemed to be a never-ending survey, I received a $10.00 e-certificate.

Also, remember to use this design technique wisely. As with most email marketing design practices, if used too often the end result can become meaningless.

For more information on allowing your subscribers to “rate this email”, read Morgan Stewart’s latest take on online marketing trends.

Corrina Wessel
ExactTarget Campaign Solutions Team