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Successful email campaigns are built on one thing only – Reputation.
A while back I was asked if I could improve the open rates, click-through rates and revenues of a long-established email marketing campaign.
My honest answer was, "Maybe".
I could create the next email in the series, and perhaps I could write a better subject line.
Perhaps I could write better content with a more compelling and visible call to action.
And perhaps I could lift their open rates and click-through rates just a little.
Why was I so modest in my predictions?
Because the success or otherwise of any email campaign has very little to do with how you write the latest email in the series.
However, it has everything to do with the reputation you have created over the course of the last twenty emails.
If I receive an email from you every week, and have been thoroughly fed up with them for a few months now, it doesn't matter how good your latest subject line and email content are.
Your reputation will precede you, and I won't open your email.
It works the other way too.
If I have opened and read every email you sent me for the last year, because they are just so darned good, then it doesn't matter what your subject line says.
You can say Blah Blah Blah in your subject line if you want.
I'll open your email anyway because, in my mind, you have a five-star reputation.
Unfortunately, most companies haven't figured this out yet and wonder why they have such low open rates.
Some of them conclude, almost always incorrectly, that email is not a good medium for them.
It's not the medium that's the problem. It's them.
If you have built up a great reputation with your subscribers, there is only one thing you need to do with your From line and Subject line.
You simply have to achieve recognition. Your subscribers need to see, instantly, that it's from you.
Your reputation for excellence is what will then get the email opened.
The major ISP filters feel the same way too.
Did you know that the Gmail spam filter couldn't care less if your subject line reads, "Make money with FREE Viagra"?
Gmail doesn't filter based on content. Nor does AOL. Not even a little bit.
Earthlink, Yahoo! and Hotmail focus only 20% of their attention on email content.
All the major ISPs filter email either 100% or 80% according to the sender's reputation.
And that reputation will be impacted significantly by how many of your recipients tag your emails as being spam…whether it's spam or not.
And if that makes you feel nervous, consider this: 20% of people use the "Report as Spam" button as an easy way to unsubscribe. (eMarketer, 2007)
From both directions, it's all about REPUTATION
The deliverability of your emails is largely dependent on your reputation as an emailer.
And your open rates and revenues will depend largely on your reputation with your subscribers.
There is nothing you can do about the reputation you have earned up to this moment.
But you can make some changes starting today.
You simply have to deliver content that is of interest and value to your readers, in every email you send.
Just do what it takes to build a positive reputation.
Nick Usborne's How to Write Your own Money-Making Websites Program.
Create a second source of income for your family that will always be there...month by month and year after year. Find out how...
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