Blasting Your Way Into Inboxes – Part 1

Email blasts are known by many names, some bad (spam) and some good (email campaign). Regardless of the name, email blasts—when implemented correctly—can deliver a return on investment as high as $48 for every dollar spent, as reported by the Direct Marketing Association (2007).

The success of targeted email blasts depends largely upon getting the right message to the right audience at the right time.

The Right Message
Email blasts should only be sent when there is a reason. If you send even one without meaningful content, the audience is more likely to just delete the next one...and every one after that.

Determining worthwhile content begins by asking “will they care?” and answering honestly. Anything from new products and news about your company or industry to events your company is organizing and recent media coverage about your company is typically worthwhile content. Marketing professionals are experts at deciding what information should be highlighted and what is “interesting fluff.” Both can have a place in email blasts.

You also need to determine your call to action. What is the point of the email blast? What do you want your readers to do? This is crucial to the results. If you don’t know what you want your readers to do, they won’t either, and your ROI will suffer.

Engaging Readers
Of course, determining the topic line-up and the call to action will only get you so far. If the topics are interesting but the writing isn’t, your results will disappoint. Get your foot in the door with the right kind of subject line–brief, creative, relevant, clear and void of spam words. Remember, you only have five words to earn a reader’s interest.

Obeying the Law
Inappropriate email blasts can earn a company up to $11,000 fines per violation, so it’s important to know and obey the law. Some violations can even allow the Department of Justice to seek criminal penalties, including jail time.

Marketing professionals have learned to create email blasts that adhere to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and the CAN-SPAM Act’s rules. These regulations not only dictate who you can send email blasts to, but also how they can be written.

Ignorance of the law doesn’t protect you. That’s why employing a legitimate service that offers professional email campaign management and adheres to the CAN-SPAM Act is well worth the cost. Plus, you can be assured your campaign has a better chance of reaching your audience.


Test, Test and Test Again
Once created, it’s important to test your message before you blast. This is where the pros apply their years of experience with direct marketing to this medium. Testing should cover the Internet delivery process as well as a variety of the email’s elements. Does the format hold up? How effective is the subject line? Call to action? And much more.

Proper testing leads to optimization. And optimization leads to a more effective campaign and more successful results.


Next week, Email Blasts will continue with a focus on The Right Audience.

Melinda