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Email Marketing Tips and Tricks by MailChimp. Free email marketing guides cover frequent mistakes as well as best practices in email marketing. Topics range from getting started for beginners to more complex email issues for advanced subscribers.
Getting Started in Email Marketing
Okay, so you're new to email marketing. Let's go over some of the basics...
- MailChimp's Free Email Marketing Guide
In its third edition, the guide was updated in May 2007 and has been downloaded more than 250,000 times since 2001. The guide is 65 pages and covers everything you need to know to get started creating professional HTML email marketing campaigns, either with MailChimp or any other email provider.
- Tips for Growing Your List
Building a clean email list is critical to your email campaign. Based on years of hands on experience, this guide shares the best practices in creating and maintaining an opt-in email list. The guide includes instructions on how to use MailChimp's free list builder tool.
- Email Marketing Etiquette (how not to be a jerk)
In a world of spam, knowing email etiquette is critical to ensuring the success of your campaign. Read this guide to make sure you avoid obvious faux pas in your next first email campaign.
- Got a list of customer emails? That doesn't necessarily mean they want to hear from you.
For many consumers, there is little distinction between unwanted email and spam email. If you stretch the line in sending too many emails or to folks who don't recognize your email, the complaints roll in. This guide takes you through the issues and how to avoid generating spam complaints.
- Why you can't just "Blast from Outlook"
Microsoft's email client Outlook was never designed to manage email campaigns of any size. If you do try to send campaigns to lists over 100, you'll invariably encounter several problems. This guide takes you through the issues and explains the benefits of using an email service provider like MailChimp, Constant Contact, iContact, Vertical Response or MyEmma.
- How To Code And Send HTML Email Campaigns and Newsletters
No Jane, you can't just copy and paste your web pages into HTML emails and have them work properly. This guide takes you through the subtle nuances of HTML coding for email with all the tips and tricks to avoid breaking your emails in all the popular readers.
- How your own address book can get you blacklisted
While you may have a valid email address in your address book, that doesn't mean that each person in your list is expecting to receive your newsletter or promotion. This guide takes you through the right way to create and manage your list and describes the pitfalls of importing your address book.
- Troubleshooting your first email campaign
This guide is a great tool for first timers trying out a new HTML email template. It lists common issues and recommendations.
- Understanding Email Campaign Reports
This is a must read guide for understanding the technology used to create your reports and how to interpret the results in your MailChimp account.
- Post Campaign Checklist
Just because your campaign went out doesn't mean the job is done. This guide provides a helpful list of items for follow-up and planning for your next campaign.
Tips. Advice, How-to Articles
Some useful ideas and tips for email marketers
- How A/B Split Testing Works
Learn what works best by A/B testing your email campaigns (it's fun, and we make it easy).
- Customer Email List Segmentation
Get better results by sending small, focused campaigns to targeted subgroups within your list.
- Send Automatic Birthday Emails
Using MailChimp's list segmentation functionality to schedule automatic birthday emails
- Improving Your Email Open Rate
An email campaign is only effective if it actually gets read. Consumers are hit with more and more emails and your message needs to communicate its value quickly to stand out. This guide covers all of the tips and tricks we've learned at MailChimp.
- Getting More People To Click In Your Emails
For many marketers, the objective is not just to get your email opened, but more importantly to have a reader click on a link to go to a web site. This guide explains how to optimize the link placement to increase click through rates.
- Sending Surveys in HTML Emails
The correct way to deliver surveys to your customers via email.
Designing and Coding HTML Email
If you've never designed or coded HTML email before, here's what you need to know:
- Free Holiday Email Templates
Free holiday graphics and designs for MailChimp HTML email e-cards
- Free HTML Email Template Source Code
While we want you to subscribe to our email marketing service, we also want you to do email right. To that end we've put together a package of FREE email templates that you can use as is or as a starting point for your next campaign. These templates have been downloaded over 1 million times.
- Avoid These Common Design Mistakes
This list of the top 6 email design mistakes has been a runaway hit since it was published in July 2007. It covers all the things a good designer should know, but may have forgotten..
- Advanced HTML Email Coding Tips for Web Designers
Tips to take your HTML emails to the next level. This guide covers common designer mistakes as well as work arounds to get that special effect.
- Dynamic Images In Your Email Campaigns
Nice little hack for dynamically displaying image content in your email campaigns, based on recipient data
- MailChimp's Free HTML Email Design Tool
This guide shows you what you can do with MailChimp's free design tool. MailChimp provides basic templates that you can modify in infinite ways to capture the look and feel of your brand and site.
- Is the plain-text email dead?
The king is dead. Long live the king. This guide explains why plain text emails are important and how to make the most of them in your next campaign.
- Designing email template headers
A helpful guide with tips and tricks on what to include your email header to reduce spam complaints, and improve readability. With MailChimp it's easy to include a link to your email online which ensures your message is always displayed correctly.
- Jazz up your MailChimp HTML email templates
This guide gives great tips to make your email pop and convey your special message. These tricks are tried and true so you can be confident your readers will see what you intended.
Deliverability and Avoiding Spam Filters
Send email marketing long enough, and you will inevitably run into delivery issues. Here's what you need to know.
- How Spam Filters Work (and how to avoid them)
It is a reality of life in email marketing. To be successful you need to design your campaigns to avoid the spam filter traps. This guide takes provide an explanation of how the filters operate and what you need to do to avoid getting stuck in one.
- Email Firewalls (spam filters need spam filters now)
The onslaught of spam has forced internet service providers to deploy a powerful arsenal of tools to protect your inbox. Not only are they checking for content, they are also validating where your emails is coming from to capture spam. This guide explains how it works and what you need to do to make it to your reader.
- How Email Authentication Works
This guide outlines the technology currently being used to authenticate your email, and how email authentication works to improve deliverability.
- How Email Certification Works
One more level of control is email certification. In this approach one pays the equivalent of a bond as a guarantee against sending spam. This guide explains how it works and the current level of adoption in the industry.
- Prevent False Spam Complaints
Trust me. You don't want a spam complaint. Nor does MailChimp. Spam complaints are filed under your permanent record as well as ours. This guide outlines the best practices to ensure you don't generate spam complaints.
- Avoid Spam Filters With Merge Tags
Merging 2 simple little data fields into your email campaigns can help you avoid some spam filters
Email Marketing Stats & Benchmarks
How do your email campaign stats compare? Here are some useful stats and benchmarks.
- Best Practices in Writing Email Subject Lines
In the process of updating the Subject Line analysis, MailChimp identified Three Words to Avoid in Email Subject Lines. As with the first study, our advice is to keep your subject lines short, descriptive, and make sure they provide the reader with a reason to explore your message further.
- Subject Line Comparison: 43 million emails analyzed
This often quoted guide is the first study of its kind to analyze what works and what doesn't work when it comes to email subject lines. Top line conclusion -- keep to the facts. Read this study to learn how to fine tune your email subject lines for best results.
- Small Business Email Marketing Benchmarks
This guide has been downloaded tens of thousands of times. It is the only resource we've seen that provides a benchmark of how campaigns by other small business email marketers in your industry have performed.
- Nearly 1/3 of Opens Occur in First Hour
This guide answers the timing question, showing that the vast majority of opens occur soon after delivery. The guide also discusses the best time of day and day of the week to send your campaign.
Other Email Marketing Resources
Here are some of our favorite "bookmark-worthy" email marketing resources.
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Free Email Marketing Tips/Tricks
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Getting Started in Email Marketing