Easy rules for doing effective mass mailing 1/2

Ways to make sure your mailing makes it to the inbox

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” 

Sun Tzu

Mass  mailings are a great way to stay in touch with your customers — and to contact prospective customers. You can use them to increase awareness of  your brand, products and services. A good mailer should build some  rapport, deliver a compelling reason to call later, and prepare the  recipient for your follow-up.

But  in the age of spam and email inboxes being flooded with different types  of communication, all vying for attention, how do you make sure your  mass mailing floats to the top instead of being drowned out or swept  away? In part one, I'll share with you some tips we use at Odoo to help  you keep your mass mailing out of the spam folder and to make sure it's actually read.

1. Pick a Goal And Focus In

Be specific about why you're sending the mass mailing out. What do you want to achieve? Do you want to sell something? Are you making an announcement? Maybe you have a promotion? Or it could be that you just want to remind people that you exist. Pick whatever your end goal is and really aim for it. Don't try to cover too much. If you do, the message gets long and confusing and, ultimately, no one wants to read a rambling email.

2. Become a Mass Mailing Sniper

Carefully select your mailing's recipients. What kind of people are you trying to attract? How many contacts on your database will realistically be interested in what you're offering? There's no point sending your  mailout to people who won't be interested - you're wasting your time and  theirs. And, if you annoy people, you could end up with a bad  reputation. Nowadays, data is quite easy to come by. So, use this data  to your advantage so you can target people based on country, sex, age, hobbies or whatever else you think is relevant.

3. Wham, Bam, No Spam!

Just like in back in the olden days, people can still shoot the messenger if they don't like what they hear. How could they kill you? With the spam box. Getting labelled as spam will definitely harm your reputation. The key embracing spam filters. It sounds strange to embrace something that could keep you from reaching your readers, but remember if you get it  right and others don't, spam filters could make you one of a special few  to get into the inbox. You start off as an internet virgin and have to build your reputation with spam filters - showing them readers do have  interest in you. The filters will check your history, average opening  rage, content, CTR (click through rate) and the number of spam reports  about you.

Avoid the following:

  • the  words - 'free', 'guarantee', 'spam' and other words or phrases you  usually see in spam emails (like ones about sex and medication, you know the ones I mean...)
  • using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
  • no 'from' address
  • over-using punctuation !!!???

Just because I've said to avoid 'free' doesn't mean you shouldn't offer something. Everyone likes to feel like they are getting a bargain or a special offer exclusively for them. However, people may worried they are being scammed so only offer something for nothing if you have a strong reputation.

You can get the spam filter to love you if you:

  • make your content relevant - make sure your mailing does what you say it does
  • make  it easy for readers to unsubscribe. You might be thinking - what? I want people to stay not go. But it's better cut the cord and have a happy break up than readers getting fed up and marking your emails as spam.

In part two, I'll tell you how to make all this hard work pay off - that  is making sure recipients actually open and read your emails.

For now, why not have a go at creating your mass mailing following these steps using our free demo.

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