Email campaigns. Everyone's got one. But does anyone actually read the emails?

When I receive an HTML marketing email from an organization/company I'm even somewhat interested in, I'll read the subject line, then briefly scan the headlines (at least the ones at the top of the window). On rare occasions, I'll click on a link, but taking this extra step is certainly the exception. I mean, really, how many of these emails come through the inbox on a given day? I shudder to count.

So I was surprised when a new client wrote with some statistics from his latest email newsletter, which Charlotte Works wrote. The client reported a 30 percent open rate, the website saw record page views ... along with a number of website sales that were direct results of that email campaign. This news made my day. I was shocked, but happily so.

Given this information, I'm going to make an effort to put my cynical bent aside, and figure out ways to reinvigorate the email campaigns I work on. PWR New Media, which does really, really nice work, put together a slide deck on turning out interesting email campaigns, likening the process to planning a dinner party. I think this is a great idea.

The PWR intro:

While whipping up a little party recently, I realized that delivering a good email campaign is a bit like throwing a great dinner party: You need to know your audience, design a great menu, use fresh ingredients and serve it all up with appealing plating for mouth-watering success. When you get it right, you can truly improve your relationships and wow your target audience. So I tossed together this little presentation to share my thoughts…

The slide deck: