Develop the right message and format for your e-newsletter ads. Have a strong, short call to action. People read e-newsletters like they read Web sites – they graze. Long copy will lose its punch. Some experts recommend keeping your Ad text to less than 10 words. Remember you are selling the click. Let the landing page do the heavy lifting.
Keep the graphics to a minimum, if at all. Many people look at their email in the preview pane and do not download the graphics. If your key message is in the graphics, it will be lost to the preview crowd.
Also remember that email newsletters are in “reading mode”. Your best creative will almost always be text. If you need to repurpose creative from other marketing campaigns, look to your top pay-per-click ads. The best PPC ads will give you a better creative start than any graphic banner ad you are using.
If possible, tie your ad to the topic of the issue and ideally to the headline of the issue. Ask the publisher if they will include a mention of your offer in their headline.
Need help writing text for your email newsletter ads, we recommend the following books:
- Letting Go of Words by Janice Redish
- Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug
Ask the email newsletter publishers for suggestions. Do they have any past examples of ads that worked well? If they won’t give details, ask for more general information – such as types of offers to which their audience responds. Do ads offering free trials get a good response? How about the response to white papers, demos or samples?
Don’t forget the mobile readers. Market Sherpa reports that 64% of b2b executive readers view their email on BlackBerry-type devices. If you use a lot of graphics, you may want to also create a text-only version for the mobile audience.
If you must add graphics to your e-newsletter ads
Keep the graphics small and make them strategic. If you have a well-known logo, make sure you include it. Ask the email newsletter publisher about their graphics policy. Do they have a limit on graphics in terms of size or number? Does their system automatically create a text-only version? How does their email distribution system handle recipients with mobile devices?