Direct Marketing Tips

Top Ten Viral Email Marketing Tips

1. Make sure it’s appropriate to include a “forward” message - some of your email content won’t be appropriate for forwarding.

2.Make the “call to forward” appropriate to your viral email marketing campaign. Word your “call to forward” very carefully to match your audience and maximise forwarding. Remind users to forward the message appropriately.

3. Remind users not to SPAM everyone they know with a message that may not be appreciated. Remind users to use the forward button in your email and not the forward button in their email software.

4.Be careful when offering rewards to users for forwarding. Offering incentives for forwarding may increase the amount of forwarding, but it also increases the chances that users will spam their entire mailing list with your message, which could have negative consequences on your branding efforts.

5. Carefully consider what you want recipients to do and how you want them to feel. Make sure it’s easy for recipients of your viral email to act in ways that meet your campaign goals - i.e buy your product, sign up for you newsletter, forward the email to a friend, etc.

6. Don’t forget your Brand. Include your logo and name consistently in all viral email marketing.

7. Pick the most appropriate email format, match the content of your viral email marketing campaign, along with the intended audience, to the most appropriate email format or technology - in some cases it will make sense to send a text only email, and on other cases you’ll want to send a graphic/html email, etc.

8. Use software that measures viral email activity.

9. Vary placement of the “call to forward” in your emails don’t always place your “call to forward” button in the same place or your readers will develop “forward link blindness” and stop seeing / using your link. Experiment with different colours, sizes and placement of your “call to forward” link to maximise forwarding.

10. Consult with professionals when pursuing viral email marketing.

Posted on 03rd May 2010

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