C'mon, really open up

It's an art, and it's a science. But that needn't make for an unworkable paradox.

The art, of course, is in the creativity. Conceiving emails that get the target audience to respond to your call to action requires a certain flair. Understanding their emotional triggers is part of it, as is the skill to combine copy with powerful imagery to deliver brand salience and resonance.

Think about it. How many emails a day do you receive, and how do you decide which ones to read? If the subject line doesn't grab you, it doesn't matter how carefully constructed the actual email is - it won't get opened. And if the preview pane doesn't contain everything you need to communicate your message in just 2 seconds, you can probably forget about a click through.

The science is, at times, mind boggling. The internet gods, after all, conspire against e-marketers these days. Well, against spammers if we're being accurate, and the trouble is that the spammers have rather spoiled the party for the good guys. Now, getting legitimate bulk emails past spam traps is an art in itself. Or should that be a science? As for formatting, have you seen how many types of email client there are out there? Rather annoyingly, all have their own behavioural characteristics. Some screw up graphics and layouts just to be spiteful, while others have a line of code containing the instruction "ignore designer's choice of font size and substitute random value", apparently.

Every email we broadcast goes through a 60 point checking process, and before bulk mailing has usually been the subject of sophisticated matrix testing of subject line and creative variations. Not that that is any guarantee of success, since there's no escaping the issue of address lists. Our full service approach means getting our hands dirty on the sometimes grubby subject of data, but cleaning it is all part of the service (no more mickey@mouse.com or no-one@nowhere.com bounces after we've cleaned it all up). Handling unsubscribes and taking full ongoing list responsibility is also standard procedure, so clients are fully confident in outsourcing the entirety of their email communications programme to us.

Ultimately, email marketing should be your most cost effective customer communications practice. If you'd like us to run an introductory seminar for you, to demystify the art and the science of this critical discipline, please get in touch.