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Small Business Email Marketing: The Fourth Commandment

Posted by Cheri Gaudet on 6/15/11 9:16 AM

Click Here ButtonThou Shalt Give People Something To Do

The number one thing you can do right now to noticeably improve the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns is include a call to action. No matter how convincing your pitch, how slick the design or how well targeted your email list, if you don't make it easy for people to respond, they won't.

A good call to action is:

  • Noticeable.
    It's one of the first things your email recipients see at the top of the email, and it's the last thing they see at the bottom. Buttons are great for their attention-grabbing design, but a well-placed hyperlink will also work.
  • Clear and Simple.
    Don't leave any doubt about what recipients are supposed to do. "Click here to set up an appointment," is far preferable to, "Feel free to call, or I will call to follow up in a day or two!" To make it even easier for people to respond, minimize the amount of information you collect after the click-through.
  • Measurable.
    Always think about how you will measure your efforts. Clicks and conversions are automatically tallied by email and internet marketing services. Tracking the response will be clunky if your email asks people to "call for more information."
  • Compelling.
    It fulfills an immediate need that you've identified your recipients will have at a given stage of the buying process. Fulfilling this need moves people closer to becoming customers.

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Topics: email marketing, email marketing best practices, small business email marketing, email marketing basics, small business internet marketing