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INKY INSIDER|

Inky Insider March 2017

Hey there!
Admit it, who of us doesn’t enjoy some quick wins? I know I do. As with anything, time and planning are important elements for email marketing success, but that’s not to say there aren’t some small tweaks you could make that will drastically improve your results. We’ve collected five tips and tactics from some amazing email geeks plus two special bonus tips from marketing wiz Noah Kagan that you’ll be able to implement TODAY:

  1. An Alternative to Boring Alt Text
    Many email clients block images by default. The result are bare, confusing, and spammy looking emails in the inbox. Styled alt text will make sure your message is clear, while adding a little visual pizzaz.

  2. Innovation Through Animation
    Experian found that 72% of email marketers that have used animated GIFs have recorded higher transition-to-click rates. Try including animated GIF or two in your next newsletter, just be sure to keep the file size down

  3. Be Better with Preheader
    The three factors that most influence an email open are (in order), the sender name, the subject line, and the preheader text. Preheader text is the is the short preview summary text that follows the subject line when an email is viewed in the inbox. Yes, you can customize that, and you’ll see better results for it.

  4. Get Personal
    Personalized emails are effective. According to Campaign Monitor, personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, get 14% higher click through and 10% higher click through. But there are more ways to personalize than just using someone’s first name.

  5. Tips for Drips
    According to Epsilon Email Institute, automated email messages average 70.5% higher open rates and 152% higher click through rates than “business as usual” marketing messages. Drip messages are not as complicated to write as you might think.

TWO SPECIAL BONUS TIPS FROM NOAH KAGAN:

Yep, Noah saw our Inky Insider email last month that we based around his tweet and wanted to pass on two of his latest email strategies to you!

  1. Kill the Zombies
    Noah removed 25% of his email list subscribers and saved money, improved his deliverability and increased his open rates. Who did he remove? Anyone who hadn’t opened or clicked on his emails in the past 12 months. Yep, these were zombie subscribers. After sending a quick warning, he dropped the axe. Opens doubled and he saved a ton of money on his ESP.

  2. Can You Hear Me Now?
    Okay this one’s a little weird, and I’m interested in trying it for myself. Noah sent the same emails to non-openers from a different email service provider to see if it made any difference. Turns out it does. Worth a shot.

If you enjoy these awesome tips, head on over to okdork.com and tell him thanks!

GO FROM BASIC TO BAD@$$

  1. ZURB MASTERCLASS: Responsive Emails
    In this online course, you’ll learn how to quickly go from marketing goals to deployed emails that display correctly on just about every screen, browser, and email client out there. It’s simply the best way to learn responsive email design.

  2. Growth Marketing Conference
    Our friends over at the Growth Marketing Conference have two events, one in SF and one in New York that feature talks and presentations by some of the world’s BEST marketers. We were able to snag you all some discounts!

That’s it for this month, stayed tuned next month for even more email design, development, and strategy tips. Until then, we’ll catch you in the inbox!

See you in the inbox!
Daniel

 

The Inky Insider is ZURB's email magazine about email design, development and strategy. Get the latest issues