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There are at least as many ways to do a promotional email wrong as there are ways to get it right. One of the first mistakes that affiliate marketers make when writing their promo emails is that they…

Lose sight of the objective:

The ONLY objective of a marketing email is to sell the product or service that you are promoting to the members of your opt-in list. Every word of the email needs to be directed at realizing that one objective.

See their list as email addresses:

An opt-in list is much more than a list of names and email addresses. It is a list of people! Real, live, human people are what make up your opt-in list. You must market your product or service to humans and not email addresses.

Fail to provide themselves with the right tools for the job:

If you are painting a room, you need paintbrushes, paint rollers, drop cloths, etc. If you are send promotional emails, you need the right tools for the job, as well. The right tools for the job of sending promotional emails are:

Note Tab Light
http://www.notetab.com/

Tiny URL
http://tinyurl.com/

Find V
http://findv.com/search/

Use weak and ineffective subject lines:

Most auto responders allow you to use up to 50 characters in a subject line. The first 25 of those characters are what stands between the marketer and an email that actually opened and read. (The second 25 should be left on the table.) If marketing emails are deleted without being read, they are totally useless. Writing powerful, attention-getting subject lines that inspire recipients to open your marketing emails is an ability that needs to be developed to a high degree of expertise.

Effective subject lines are short, to the point, have a tease quality and never promise more than what will be delivered in the attached marketing email.

Use all capital letters:

The use of all capital letters in any kind of email is the equivalent of shouting or yelling at a person that you are having a real world conversation with. It is rude and completely unproductive. Don’t yell at the members of your opt-in list. All capital letters do not draw attention nor convey excitement.

Use a lot of exclamation points:

One exclamation point at the end of a sentence means that the sentence is an exclamatory one. Multiple exclamation points at the end of a sentence are another form of yelling and they do not denote added excitement. They are taking up valuable space in your marketing email and maybe even irritating the recipients.

Never use bullet points:

It is a known fact that people don’t read marketing emails word for word. People scan marketing emails. Marketing emails need to be easy to SCAN. The use of bullet points makes it easy for recipients to easily identify the important information that is contained in the email. You should always use bullet points for the main points that you are making in your marketing email.

Make their emails too long:

Marketing emails should be short. They shouldn’t have a scroll bar and they should only be 300 to 400 words long. They should never contain large blocks of text. It won’t be read.

Fail to use the P.S. line effectively:

The P.S. line(s) of a marketing email appear last but they are as important as the first word of a marketing email. The P.S. line needs to be used to hit the most important aspect of the email again or as a tease for an upcoming email.

After the body of the email comes the signature. The importance of the signature is rarely mentioned but it is also an important part of a marketing email. Be certain that you make those signature lines count. Use your name, your company name, a link to your webpage, as well as, a link to the product or service that you are selling.

Next comes your last opportunity to make your point and sell your product or service. It’s the P.S. line. P. S. is an acronym for ‘post script’ which means ‘after the signature’. It can be compared to ending a telephone conversation by saying, ‘Goodbye (signature) and don’t forget about the meeting tomorrow (P.S.).

View that P.S. as an opportunity to get in a parting shot or create a tease for an uncoming marketing email or as an incentive to join a teleseminar or a webinar.

The P.S. line can be used either as a hook-setting opportunity or as a baiting opportunity. Whatever way you use your P.S. line, it needs to be ‘above the fold’ or above the scoll line in order for it to be the most effective.

**The only thing that should ever always be below the scoll line is the opt-out option.

Using your P.S. line to ‘set the hook’ means using it to hit the main selling point made in your marketing email one more time.

For example:

P.S. Don’t forget that this product will save you both time AND money. (And provide the URL to the sales page once more.)

Another example would be:

P.S. Don’t forget that this offer ends at midnight on Novemer 16th. (And again, provide the URL to the sales page.)

Yes another example would be:

P.S. Don’t get left out! This offer is limited to the first 200 applicants. (And provide the URL to the sales page.)

Using the P.S. line as bait is a rather simple but very effective sales technique. When I say ‘bait’ (a word that I really dislike), what I am referring to is a tease or an incentive.

Once example of a P.S. line being used as ‘bait’ is:

P.S. Don’t miss the next newsletter. There will be an offer that will amaze you! (Add a link to your subscription opt-in box.)

Another example of a P.S. line being used as ‘bait’ is:

P.S. You don’t want to miss finding out why I got sent to jail which will be revealed during this teleseminar. (Add a link to the squeeze page for registering for the teleseminar.)

“Keep your eye on the prize!” “Keep your eye on the ball!” Those are both old sayings and ones that has been paraphrased many times and many ways but the message is always the same. Don’t forget what is important.

There can be many distractions when you are an email marketer. When you are writing an important marketing email you can get distracted by the necessity of using the right form or keeping your sentences short or a dozen other things. The ‘ball’ or the ‘prize’ that you need to keep your eye on is that the objective of your marketing email is to entice the recipients to act on your recommendations and, in fact, drag out those credit cards and buy what you are selling or even to visit your website and take advantage of a free gift that you are giving away.

Sometimes the problem can be the form that is used in your email. It is important that the message be clear and that the main points are in bulleted form so that the email can be scanned easily by the recipients. Remember to use, short sentences and short paragraphs. Don’t use all capital sentences and curb your enthusiastic use of exclamation points.

Sometimes the whole problem can be summed up in just one word: procrastination. We seem to be a nation of procrastinators. We never do today what can be put off until tomorrow or, even better, indefinately. Can you imagine what would happen to the tax system if April 15th were only a suggestion and not an absolute deadline? Let’s see a showing of hands of all those who would meet a suggested tax filing deadline!

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some sort of tried and true formula for getting the recipients to take action and buy what you are selling or download what you are giving them immediately? Maybe you should not suggest that they buy what you are selling when they get around to it or downloading what you are offering at their convenience. Perhaps you should be a bit more emphatic and a bit more specific, set limits and set deadlines.

By telling you to be more emphatic, I am in no way suggesting that you use a lot of exclamation points or a lot of big capital letter sentences. No. I’m suggesting that when you write your marketing email that you use bullet points that will cause the recipients of your marketing email to take action and to take it immediately.

A bullet point that says:

For a limited time only!

Isn’t going to be all that effective.

A bullet point that says:

This offer expires at midnight on November 10th!

This will be much more effective because it gives a specific deadline.

A bullet point that says:

This is a limited offer!

Isn’t going to be very effective either.

One that says:

This offer is limited to the first 200 applicants!

Might just get some action. Everybody wants to be first…even though they also will procrastinate given the opportunity.

The point is to provide the members of your opt-in list with an very good reason to take action and to take that action immediately.

It could be that you goofed and word-wrapped the links in your marketing message. Many email programs do not deliver word wrapped links. All the recipient will see is the words…there will be no link to click on. Remember to include full URL’s.

Keep your eye on the ball! Remember that the main objective is to get the members of your opt-in list to click on the links you provide in your marketing email message.