Volume 1 - Issue 6   E-News: E-mail Marketing Best Practices Lisa Munns, E-News Editor       May 31, 2006 5 Tips to Building a Better Email Template While template design alone won’t guarantee delivery, a properly rendered message will eliminate many of the factors that hinder deliverability. If you are experiencing significant bounce rates and large numbers of spam complaints, test a few of your recent messages; run the templates through an HTML code validator and a spam content checker. (Your e-mail service provider should have these functions built into their platform.) Then email the message to test accounts in various email clients including the big 3 – Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail. Finally, view the message in the most common browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera) and platforms (PC, Macintosh, cell phone). Enlist others in your office to receive and report on your messages before they are sent. Running through these procedures should give you a good idea of where your messages are falling short in building effective emails with strong deliverability. 1. Redesign for the Preview Pane Issue: Does the email deliver its message in a space roughly 4 inches wide and two inches deep? That’s all that shows up in the preview pane--the feature in many email clients that allows e-mail readers to partially scan messages without opening them. A recent e-communications survey found that over half the email users in the United States now utilize a preview pane. Many read their messages in the pane while others use the pane to decide whether to open or discard the message. Action: Design your template with a more horizontal format, and pack as much key information at the top as possible: a link to your website, a summary of the message content, or a table of contents. Use text instead of a single image. 2. Redesign for Blocked Images Issue: Many spam filters flag large images as potential spam content and most email clients, both desktop and web, now block images by default. Thus, it is a major design error to place message content into a single large image. Action: Reduce reliance on images that link back to your website. Replace navigation images with text links, or add descriptive “alt” tags that describe the photo or desired action if the image doesn’t render. Watch font size because many filters flag large point sizes (usually 36 points and higher). 3. Review Broken Code Issue: Broken code is a prime spam indicator. Filter programs such as SpamAssassin specifically look for it. Sometimes the problem is just forgetting a closing symbol, or you may have an outdated tag. Action: Keep it simple by sticking to plain vanilla HTML formatting. Avoid scripting. Spam filters are likely to flag any message JavaScript or VB Script as spam or strip it out. Test your email in the various web-based clients including Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail and utilize an HTML validator to highlight code problems. 4. Tone Down Your Message Content Issue: Aggressive language, punctuation and capitalization are among the fastest ways to get a messaged filtered or blocked. Some markets such as financial services, gaming and pharmaceuticals are particularly spam-sensitive. Action: Place your more aggressive selling language in an image instead of in text copy or links and reduce the number of “click here” commands. Using the spam content checker will help identify and filter questionable words and phrases. 5. Locate Email Message Essential Elements in One Consistent Place Issue: To be fully spam compliant all of your email messages should have three mandatory elements – a working “opt out” link, the school name with a physical address and a working “contact us” link and/or phone number. Action: Group these elements in one place on your message, preferably at the bottom of the message. This makes it easier for respondents to unsubscribe or contact you, which can keep them from going for the “report spam” button. Once you have incorporated some or all of these tips into your message template design, make sure to compare the before and after delivery rates. If you have indeed fixed your troublesome message elements, you should see a measurable increase in your delivery rates. If you continue to experience high spam complaints and bounces, you will need to go back to the drawing board and see where you are still falling short. Glossary of Terms Broken code -- When the code that comprises the HTML of your message is incomplete; causing images and formatted text to be improperly displayed.  HTML code validator -- Checks to verify that you don't have any broken code in your message that would inhibit images or text from correctly appearing. Spam content checker -- Checks to ensure that you don't have any content that may cause your message to be blocked by Spam. If you use HTML in your messages, use a spam content checker to make sure your code is error-free and follows HTML guidelines. "alt" tags -- HTML tag that provides alternative text when non-textual elements, typically images, cannot be displayed. I welcome your inquiries about this topic or any other questions related to e-mail marketing. Let us know if there is a subject you would like us to cover in future issues of E-mail Marketing Best Practices. lmunns@studenthorizons.com back student horizons, inc. 4903 auburn avenue bethesda, md 20814 301/951-7101 - phone 301/951-7104 - fax   Your email: Send to a friend: Sign up for more newsletters