Marketing Digest

In this series, we delve into the diverse array of tools and strategies available through Constant Contact integrations, curated by our seasoned Coaches with decades of experience. Join us as we explore the power of video marketing, visual design, and e-commerce strategies, all enhanced by seamless integrations, to help you achieve your marketing goals with confidence.

Unleash your inner rockstar at House of Guitars in Rochester, NY—a rock 'n' roll museum like no other. They sell guitars, host live performances, offer lessons, and have their own record label. With Constant Contact, they reach fans through email, social media, and more.

The more we become reliant on the internet for storing data, shopping, banking, etc, the more cybercriminals will seek to exploit it. Through phishing it is possible for your sensitive data to become compromised. Organizations in particular are at great risk because a single employee who is phished could potentially compromise the entire company’s data. In this post, I’ll be discussing what phishing is, how to identify it, and some best practices to keep you secure in the event you come across it.

Here at Constant Contact, we are an industry leader in email delivery. This is no accident. Our Terms and Conditions are designed to ensure the best possible delivery rate for all of our customers.

That being said, it’s expected (read: absolutely normal) that most email campaigns will have some level of bounces. Knowing the cause and reasons behind these bounces can help you as a marketer to ensure you are mailing to the cleanest, most engaged list that you can. First, I covered Non-Existent and Suspended bounces, then Undeliverable and Blocked bounces; today I will be going over the remaining categories: Mailbox Full, Vacation/Auto-Reply, and Other.

We know GIFs as those little animated images that you see on different websites. But did you know that you can insert GIFs into your Constant Contact campaigns? 

That's right! You can upload and insert a GIF just as you would a regular image. Adding a GIF into your campaign can certainly liven up a static campaign and add some personality. Here are a few things you should know before adding a GIF into your campaign.

• Just like images, GIFs need to be under 5MB in size in order to be uploaded into the Constant Contact library. 
• Less = more. Putting too many GIFs into a campaign can be distracting and pull your reader away from the message you are sending. Just a few will do!
• Right along the lines of less = more, choose GIFs that are shorter in length (like the one I used above). Longer GIFs are larger in file size and may not even upload properly but they also take your readers' focus away from your message.
• There are some email clients that don't support GIFs and will only show the first frame of the GIF. It's important to keep this in mind and send yourself previews to make sure that the first frame still makes sense even if the GIF doesn't play. 

So, how can you use a GIF in your campaign? Here are few suggestions:

• Display a reaction - are you excited about a sale that you are having or want to promote something great happening with your business or organization? Show your readers how excited you are by using a GIF!
• Support your message - Maybe you work for a nonprofit animal shelter and you are trying to raise money. Try including a GIF of cats or dogs so your readers remember who their donation would be helping.
• Show personality - Readers love seeing personality in an email. Use a GIF to have a fun opening or closing message. Maybe like this:

Want more ideas on how to use GIFs? Look no further than our Blog!

We're interested to know how you will use GIFs in your campaigns. Feel free to let us know or share your "giffed out" campaign on our Share & Get Ideas board! As always, we are here to answer any questions you might have as well. 

What is a preheader and why is it so important? This is a common question that we get in Customer Support!

First, let’s take a step back and start with the subject line. It’s displayed in the email recipient’s inbox. We all know its importance in stating the intent or essence of your email campaign. It gives a summary of the content and sparks the reader’s interest. Like a heading, a title or a topic.

A great subject line entices the recipient to open your email campaign and take action (and keeps your email out of the spam folder!) The three best practices when writing an effective subject line include: short and descriptive, avoids spam-like characteristics, and entices the recipient to read further.

Sounds great, right? But what if you could add even more value to the content of your email campaign?

This is where the preheader comes in. It’s an additional line of text that displays in the inbox after the subject line. It simply supports the subject line with a bit more detail. It can even help with brand recognition.

Most mobile devices and email clients automatically display it. Without a preheader, the recipient might see a URL or perhaps text that doesn’t entirely support the subject line. You’ll want to maximize this space to your benefit. Use it to create value and/or a sense of urgency. Here are some examples of preheader text: what you could use:

• Sign up now - limited time offer
• Read what they’re saying
• Keep reading to find out more
• Shop now and save
• Your feedback is important
• Check out our work
• Don’t miss out
• Join us

Remember, the subject line and preheader text work in tandem. Together they create a preview of the content to come, and provide you with a golden opportunity to engage your contacts before your email is even opened!

We make it easy for you to add this to your email campaign directly from the header block:

Have any questions about the above article? Let us know! We’d also love to hear your successes with including a preheader to your email campaign. In addition, if you’ve seen any great preheader text in your own inbox tell us about that too!

“Open Sesame:” It Starts With a Strong Subject Line

Many people focus all of their energy on creating the best email campaign (and that’s great, there is nothing wrong with that) but they stumble when it comes to what to put in the subject line.  This makes sense because there’s little space to write something compelling and the subject line is one of the most important parts of the email. I say this because it’s not only the first thing customers see before ever opening, but can also determine if your campaign gets to the inbox.

Things to Include

Keep it short and sweet – we recommend 5-8 words or 40 characters. This requires you to come up with a strong statement for your subject. Longer subject lines often get cut off after 60 characters.

Examples: “Last chance to save 20% on all back-to-school supplies” or “The 3 biggest income tax mistakes you're making”

One subject line that got me to open an email recently was “7 Things That Will Get You Promoted “

Adding numbers is useful in making your subject line compelling. It also sets an expectation up front for your readers.

Here are a few fun tips our Content Team came up with, in “12 Tips for Creating the Best Email Subject Lines (with Examples)”

Things to Avoid

You know those emails that you get that based solely off of the subject line, you click delete and don’t open it?  C’mon, you know the ones. Think about what made you pause before opening that email. Those trigger words that hinted to you that the email might be spam.

Words like free, guarantee, spam, etc. can often cause emails to end up in the spam or junk folder. But, be careful – even innocent things like using ALL CAPs, excessive explanation points, or dollar symbols can also cause trouble and make people avoid opening your emails.

Want more information? Check out Optimize the Subject Line in a Campaign Email.

P.S. Don’t Forget the Preheader!

Last but not least, remember to add some text to your preheader. Not all email clients will display a preheader when an email is received, but for the ones that do this can help improve the open rate too.

The preheader is essentially an item of text that display below the subject line when an email is received in your inbox. This is a chance to add an extra tag line, to give customers more of a preview as to what’s inside the email. Check out some preheader examples.

Continue the conversation with us. Let us know what kinds of subject lines you like most, or if you there’s something you’d like us to cover in a future post.

You’ve got your contacts loaded and maybe you’ve even sent out a few emails already. But if you’re asking yourself “How should my email look to make me stand out as a professional?” you’re not alone.

Best practices for how an email should look are much like that of a website. They’re constantly changing to meet the demands of keeping customers engaged. That’s where we come in!

As a Customer Engagement Specialist with Constant Contact, a few things I always tell customers to focus on are a strong subject line, two to three colors, three or less images, and most importantly: a call to action.

Let’s take a closer look at the anatomy of an engaging email! (TIP: Click on the below image to download a PDF version)

"Having trouble downloading the PDF?  Try this link instead"

Let us know your favorite tip! and Have a topic that you'd love to see a PDF on?  Let us know.