We are happy to announce that we’ve rolled out a series of instructional video tutorials to help familiarize you with some of the basic functions offered within eConnect Email.  So if you’re a visual learner sit back, turn up your speakers and grab a cup of joe while we walk you through some of the basic functionality within your eConnect Email account.

Getting Started Video Tutorials

• Creating a contact/ mailing list overview
• Importing contacts into your account
• Building an email campaign overview
• Image Manager overview
• Sending email campaign overview
• Manually adding contacts

Over the coming months we will be adding to our video library as we walk you through some of the more advanced email marketing features offered by eConnect Email (ex. email auto responders, email triggers, customer segmentation and more).  Is there a specific feature you’d like us to cover?  If so, please respond to this post and let us know!   As always we welcome your feedback.

Did you know that you have less than 60 seconds to get your message across to most of your email subscribers?  Once a subscriber clicks on your email, they typically spend less than a minute absorbing information and determining whether the email is pertinent to them before they decide to keep it or trash it.  Since the amount of text a person can read in 60 seconds is negligible, you’ve got to make your initial impact another way: with graphics!

There are plenty of arguments that deal with why using images in your email newsletters is a bad idea, but when planned effectively and used in proper proportion, they still offer the most bang for your buck in an intensely visual medium. Here are eConnect Email’s tips for using effective imagery in your emails.

• Choose pictures that communicate your message.

If a visitor couldn’t read the text in your email, would he still have an idea what your company does and what the topic of your newsletter is? If not, then your images are just taking up space and creating large files that might get  your email misdirected to the spam folder. With eConnect Email’s unlimited image hosting, you can upload a library of images to store and use within email content.

• Communicate without images, too.

Images are important, but there are two reasons your message should still be communicated even if a viewer can’t see your images. First, viewers who don’t have HTML viewing turned on will miss out on important information if it’s contained only within images. And second, viewers who check email on their smart phones will miss out on image rich messages if they don’t convert easily to mobile format. Either way, you’ve lost a potential customer if you trap vital messages within images.

• Maintain a 25/75 ratio of images to text.

The most effective email newsletters use approximately 25% images and 75% text. This ratio ensures that viewers find your emails visually pleasing but not cluttered and that they can still understand your messages if images can’t be viewed. eConnect Email can help keep your messages balanced by using our predesigned templates provided or one of our talented designers can customize an email template for you to effectively communicate your message.

Creating a visually effective email newsletter depends on your ability to marry text and images so that viewers clearly understand your message whether they spend a few seconds glancing at pictures or whether they have access to text only. The design help you’ll receive from eConnect Email will ensure that you have achieved that perfect balance in order to reach the most viewers with your message. Happy imaging!

First impressions make up a huge percentage of the overall impact you will have on any given reader of your marketing emails. Experts estimate that in a face-to-face first contact, you have seven seconds to make your first impression and that 93% of that impression will be based on non-verbal factors. In the email world, this translates into how your presentation makes the reader feel as a he looks at your email, even if he doesn’t read a word. If you want to develop an email marketing campaign that compels readers to find out more, you’ve got to pay attention to details of presentation and appearance.

Let The Preview Pane Work for You

Many email programs provide readers with a preview pane that shows them a snippet of the email before they open it. The good news is that this gives you a chance to reach people that might not actually click on your message if you know how to use that snippet of space effectively. The preview pane is the most important piece of real estate within your campaign so design accordingly.  eConnect Email provides templates to help you design an effective email as well as inbox previews so you can see how your message will look in a variety of different email programs.

Keep Important Information as Text, Not Graphics

Another quirk of many email applications is that they often block images by default. To make sure the largest percentage of readers see your message, put your most important information in text format rather than incorporating it into a graphic image. Then use eConnect Email’s image manager to upload images that support the information you’ve already communicated through text.

Make Your Messages Mobile Friendly

As more and more people check email on their mobile devices rather than from their computers, the need for mobile friendly formatting has become essential. If subscribers can’t clearly read your email, they’ll likely delete it before you have a chance to make that vital first impression. Start by using succinct subject lines with the most important information first and make sure your sending name is recognizable. Incorporate alt tags for your images so viewers can still see text even if images are blocked. You can also include a link to a mobile version of your email.

Choose Your Colors Wisely

Choose colors that work together and that promote the emotions you want to convey. In addition, use dark text on a light background to make your messages more readable. Take advantage of eConnect’s custom design services to help you choose colors and a format that will best convey your intended message.

Let Us Help You

While eConnect Email provides you with a great selection of email templates to choose from, you may want to think about a custom template that will incorporate your brand more professionally and seamlessly.  We can help you design a custom template for your monthly newsletters or design a campaign for a specific event or promotion.  For more information on our custom email template design services click on the link provided or call us at (866) 596-9997.