Never Assume

The old police saying; to assume makes an ass of you and me. I think it was Oscar Wilde originally. No Matter.

In email, sender assumption is the cause of lower open rates, lower reaction rates, and higher unsubscribe rates.

Sender assumption, that is, that the recipient will mirror the sender - in terms of interest, knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm.

To a degree, this can be overcome by dumbing down - creating your email with the lowest common denominator in mind.

Make sure you sender ID clearly identifies you. Make sure your subject line is informative and engaging. Make sure that your call to action is the focal point of your email. Make sure that your desired transaction is simple and obvious.

Too often , marketing minds used to the subtlety of other media make the mistake of copying their tactics for email.

Time is not on your side. You have seconds to compete with a crowded inbox. So keep it simple, and never assume that the recipient is sitting there, waiting eagerly for your email, and has hours to devote to deciphering what it is you want them to do.

So when should I send out my newsletter?

Since email time immemorial there has been great debate about timing. What day to send, what time to send?

Statistics are studied, theories evolved. Results change, and consequently so do timings.
Timing strategies often depend upon your database; is it primarily composed of business users, or weekend users?

Some rules do apply to all deployments – from Friday lunchtime through to Monday lunchtime, don’t bother sending – unless your message is time sensitive and critical to an event during that period. After hours emails in midweek are usually a waste of time, as well.

I believe that the most important timing rule is consistency. By deploying at the same time of the same day each week or month, you can gradually create an event – one that will be anticipated, and also that can be teed up by previous send outs, and on your website.

This can only help opening rates and audience engagement.