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Building SMEs Into Thought Leaders

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A great-looking email template is important for establishing credibility and brand recognition with readers; but, as the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.

The same mentality should always be applied to email campaigns. A nice-looking template means nothing if subscribers aren't engaged and interested in what you have to say. The content of your email or newsletter is vital to the success of your campaign.

Whether creating awareness, generating sales, or building customer loyalty, it's important to remember what keeps customers coming back for more.

Why is content so important?

The first thing readers will do when opening an email is ask themselves, What's in it for me? You have about seven seconds to answer that question.

Layout and template play a big role here. At first glance, your brand should be clearly visible and the content easily accessible, but that alone won't capture your readers' attention for long. No matter how good your email looks, the real magic for lasting beyond that seven-second mark lies in the content of your email.

Content should always be relevant and engaging. If either element is lacking, your reader will close out, hit delete, and move on. If that happens once too often, your subscriber may go one step further and block future emails from you or, worse, report you as a spammer.

The relevancy of your email answers the "What's in it for me?" question, ensuring that your subscribers stay interested and keep reading to find out more. The engaging aspect promotes activity within your email, such as drawing readers to your Web site for a call to action, ensuring click-throughs to additional content, or encouraging readers to forward your newsletter or promotion to friends and colleagues who might also find value in what you have to offer.

What can I do to improve my content?

1. Know your audience

One of the most important steps to take toward providing more-relevant content is knowing whom you're writing to. Are you writing to a 70-year-old retiree who enjoys golf or a stay-at-home mother of three? You could have a wide array of customers, and it's important to target and segment your content based on their interests.

To determine those interests, use email marketing tools that offer reporting functions that allow you to learn more about your subscriber base, such as their open and click-through rates. You can also analyze past campaign reports to get a better understanding of what gets their attention and what prompts them to act.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steve Adams is the vice-president of marketing for Protus (www.protus.com), a provider of communications tools, including the MyFax (www.myfax.com) Internet fax service; my1voice (www.my1voice.com), a virtual phone service; and Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), an email-marketing solution. He can be reached at sadams@protus.com.