Posted by Erin Templer
These days, you can't log into your e-mail account without finding at least one marketing e-mail in your inbox. And it's no wonder this is such a popular tool. Marketing e-mails generate leads, increase sales, provide an instant means of communication to your members and are extremely budget-friendly.
Yet there are clearly downsides to this ultra-convenient method that need to be considered in order to make it valuable for everyone.
Before I started at CUES, Re:Source was born. It is a weekly e-mail CUES sends out highlighting one conference, one executive education offering, one product and one strategic service. Until recently, this e-mail provided an even amount of space to each of these offerings and four graphics on the left side that rotated to highlight each feature.
The purpose of Re:Source is to raise awareness of CUES' offerings without filling up our readers' inboxes. If we overpopulate a mailbox, we run the risk of people deleting our e-mails before they even read them--which obviously doesn't help our audience learn about educational programs that may help them. And so, we have Re:Source.
After years of sending it out, Re:Source started looking a little tired...so we gave it a face-lift! We wanted to maintain all of the positive qualities the original Re:Source had, it just needed to be tweaked.
The main reason for giving Re:Source a makeover was to create a more user-friendly e-mail. Since the old Re:Source's design gave all four of our offerings equal space on the page, nothing stood out. A face isn't as pleasing to look at if the eyes are the exact same size as the nose and the mouth; you don't know where to focus your attention. To find a balance of information, the new Re:Source highlights one featured offering at the top of the e-mail, giving people a place to focus. As readers continue down the page, they find three of our other offerings. Not as prominent as the first, so as not to detract from but to enhance the purpose of the e-mail.
Our goal behind this makeover was to refine a tool that people anticipate, open, read and pass along to their colleagues. Something that fits into their busy schedules and helps them find the solutions they need quickly.
So, credit union marketers, how do you keep the volume of your e-mail marketing from overwhleming your members? And how do you keep you marketing e-mails fresh? Please share you best strategies in the comments.
