Effective email, way more than the email itself.

So, a client shoots me a customer-facing email and asks any suggestions on how to make this more effective?
Looking at the email creative, I’m thinking “not so bad, decent layout, several call-to-actions in the right places, only a few minor tweaks and the creative looks pretty solid.”

Then, all the questions start…
Who’s the email going to? Is the offer compelling for this target? What’s the subject line? When is it being deployed? Have you sent emails to these people before? Any results on past emails?

There’s so much more to an “effective email” than the actual email, and as marketers we need to encourage our clients to look at all the pieces.

Things to consider with EVERY email.
1. The list. Are you sending the right information to the right person? Your email/message needs to be relevant to the person receiving it or else it will never get opened.
2. The offer. Is your offer compelling and targeted to your list? The combination of benefit-driven language and a relevant offer is key.
3. The creative - prior to opening your email, the subject line is your creative – make it work hard.
4. Test, test and test some more. Try to learn from every email you send out.