Good articles for all, best article: [New post] Revealed: Why Your Email Newsletters Are Left Unread (and 3 Ways to Ensure That Never Happens Again)

Revealed: Why Your Email Newsletters Are Left Unread (and 3 Ways to Ensure That Never Happens Again)

Antti Kokkonen | Nov 29, 2010 at 9:36 PM | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pJond-2e

Email marketing still works. It never stopped working. In fact, it works better than ever:

When it comes to customer relationships, newsletters must be seen as a long-term investment: they work their magic over time.

BUT email has changed, and every email newsletter owner and marketeer with a mailing list should pay attention to the Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox for November 2010...

Or what do you think about study showing that the: number of new or unread messages is now 300% higher than it was just 4 years ago.

To get your emails read, here's what you can learn from Nielsen's findings (E-Mail Newsletters: Increasing Usability):

The most important thing (still) is to use clear "from" and "subject" lines to ensure your messages attract attention; in fact, busier inboxes simply make these guidelines even more important.

Focus on high-value content at the start of a message, since users are less likely now to look beyond it.

Pay attention to message previews, since users do that more and more. (mobile usage!!)

And don't leave it at those three tips...

I clipped some interesting notes below too, but the whole article is a must read for every email marketeer. Read it here: E-Mail Newsletters: Increasing Usability

Amplify’d from www.useit.com

Summary:
New research finds improved usability metrics for subscribing to newsletters, but problems with reading them on mobile devices.

It's clear that users are falling further behind in keeping up with their email. This doesn't change the old guidelines regarding the importance of using clear "from" and "subject" lines to ensure your messages attract attention; in fact, busier inboxes simply make these guidelines even more important. In the past, a newsletter might have gotten away with a generic or spammy subject line. Today, that same design will doom it.

In addition to subject lines, users now pay more attention to message previews. This change is partly driven by the increasing email volume (users can decide whether to dispose of or keep messages without opening them all) and partly driven by more mobile access (users can't see much on a small screen).

It's always been a guideline to start a newsletter with the most important stuff, but the increased use of previews makes it even more important to focus on high-value content at the start of a message, since users are less likely now to look beyond it. (It almost goes without saying that "high-value" is judged based on what's valuable to the recipients – not on what you feel like promoting today.)

Read more at www.useit.com