So, what are the roadblocks?

So, you get it. You should be more like EMCA Inc in order to excel at email marketing. Right?

It’s not that simple, unfortunately.

In order to be successful in email marketing, you need to make sure that several things happen and keep happening.

Sorted reverse chronologically:

  • get a person to do the action you want them to do
    (subscribe, buy, schedule a call etc)
  • get a person to click through the email
  • get a person to open the email
  • deliver the email to the inbox
  • deliver the email to the ISP

In order for them to do what you want, your recipients must see the message that gets them excited to act, and nothing else should hinder them in doing so.  

Let’s dissect that.

  • they must see the message
  • that gets them excited to act
  • nothing else should hinder them in doing so.

In order to see the message, it must be delivered to them (their inbox) at the right time, with the right subject line.

So, let’s expand this:

  1. Must be delivered to their inbox requires several prerequisites:
    • their email address must exist (they must exist)
      You might be thinking, “doh, Nemanja,” but bear with me. Often times I encounter clients with lists that have a lot of fake email addresses. When they try to send emails to them they either bounce or fall into a black hole. Literally. Some spam traps are called “black holes” because they accept all email, but upon delivering to them, they tell on you to Spamhaus, SpamCop and the others. Sneaky little bastards.
    • their email address must be deliverable (not abandoned or full or in any other way inaccessible)
      This one makes more sense, doesn’t it? But there is a caveat: if an email address was active 6 months ago, now it doesn’t have to be. What if I have a spare email address that I use only to signup for stuff I don’t really care about and then never open it? You’d be surprised how many people actually do that.
    • your sending infrastructure needs to comply with the rules set by the ISP their email address is with.
    • the ISP you’re trying to deliver to needs to “think” well of you (your IP and sending domain should have a good reputation)
      More on these two in the Send and Deliver lesson.

      Note that I didn’t mention the opt-in here. This is not actually a prerequisite in all countries. In some, or should I say many, it’s required by law, like Europe and Canada, but in some, it is not required at all, like the U.S. What all countries do require, however, is for a person to be able to opt-out. But that’s only after they’ve seen the message.
  2. The right time means that your message reaches them at the moment when they are able to act. This requires knowing your audience and the best times to talk to them. What if your subscribers are spread across the globe and many different time zones? Should you look at the time of their last interaction, their signup or their local time?

    It also means that your system for sending is capable enough to send the message when scheduled and not later.
  3. The right subject line means just that. You need to explore different subject lines and ways of getting their attention. Subject lines don’t sell, but many people forget that.

Let’s keep dissecting…

  • they must see the message
  • that gets them excited to act

This “excited to act” part talks about your email message, how you talk to them and how you present the why they should do it.

Your message should basically answer a hidden question:

If I am your ideal prospect, why should I buy from you, rather than from your competitors?

Flint McGlaughlin

You can replace the words prospect and buy with whatever suits you the most. Client, lead, user, subscribe to, call you, buy, whatever.

  • they must see the message
  • that gets them excited to act
  • nothing else should hinder them in doing so.

This part is somewhat on you but also somewhat on the force majeure.

Your part is to make sure your landing page isn’t distracting and that whatever you want them to do is doable on any device they come from.

The rest is their own surroundings, phone call, kids, work, etc.

This was a prelude to the course. Let’s dive in.

To the First Step