Signed. Sealed. Delivered: Engage and Drive ROI from an Inbox

If you’re like the overwhelming majority of us, your morning office ritual consists of coffee, the delete button and a full inbox. As marketers, it’s simply a product of our trade. E-mail is in fact still the reigning king in reaching consumers, beating out social, display and mobile forms of communication. According to Exact Target, more than 90 percent of online consumers check their e-mail at least once per day, and an astounding 77 percent say e-mail is their preferred channel for receiving permission-based promotional messages.

For us at Club One, e-mail is one of our most cost-effective marketing channels, which is why we’ve invested our efforts in creating a data-driven, targeted monthly e-newsletter that fuels member engagement and drives ROI. Way beyond just content creation, the key to a successful e-newsletter is getting your members to open them and take action. Below are a few of our best practices to keep in mind.

Segment Your Lists

The health club industry has a tendency to over-communicate — to try to say it all in one e-newsletter. It’s true; our clubs have a lot going on each month, all worthy of promotion. However, if it’s not delivered as a relevant, targeted message, it will fall victim to the delete button and over time the dreaded unsubscribe. Segmenting your member lists by gender, age, goals or interests, will not only help you select and prioritize the programs and news most relevant to that specific target member, but will encourage increased open and click-through rates.

Keep Content Concise

Select 4-6 features for each of your e-newsletters. Note that some can be consistent across your segmented e-newsletters (we often use the primary feature story as the differentiator). Limit copy to a headline plus 1-2 sentences and use “read more” links to direct to more lengthy content. We also use video and photo-driven imagery in place of copy for at least one feature to help tell a story or share an experience visually. And remember, these various links help increase click-through rates and search results.

Savvy Subject Lines

Subject lines can be the deciding factor in terms of open rates. Be witty and clever, rather than boring and straightforward, to get the attention of your target audience. Subject lines do not need to explain the entire e-mail. And at all costs, avoid SPAM triggers like all CAPS, excess punctuation and the dreaded “Free.” Be sure to track open rates to test the success of different subject lines, so you can begin to learn what draws your specific audiences in.

Timing is Crucial

GetResponse analyzed 21 million e-mails and found that 23.63 percent of all e-mail opens occur within the first hour after delivery. Within the second hour after delivery, the results drop by half. Analyze your e-mail data and history to discover the best times to send e-mail with the highest open and click-through rates. At Club One, we found that 9am-10am on Tuesday through Thursday garners the best response.

Mobile Inboxes

According to a Nielsen study, 25 minutes of every hour spent on mobile devices is dedicated to e-mail, beating out all other categories including social networking, gaming and browsing. It’s imperative that your e-newsletter is optimized for mobile devices. Triple check your HTML and text on various devices to ensure you’re not leaving anyone out.

By Kari Bedgood, the vice president of marketing & PR for Club One.

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.