Box Tops for Education eNewsletter
Always provide a web link.
If someone receives your email, but has trouble reading it, you must provide a quick and easy solution or they’re not going to get the message. You can provide a link to the web version of the email. Usually this is done by saying ‘Having trouble viewing this?’ or ‘View as web page’. Do not use the words ‘click here’. Box Tops for Education provides this link at the very top of their email message.
Include tips to ensure future deliverability.
Many spam filters can block or delay certain email messages. The most common solution is for the reader to add their email address to their address book. You can also provide a link to specific instructions for popular email clients such as yahoo, hotmail, gmail, and AOL. Box Tops for Education provides this link at the very top of their email message.
Provide options to share your enewsletter.
Providing a ‘Forward to a friend’ link should be at the top and bottom of your email message. You should also provide links to share your newsletter on popular applications such as Facebook or Digg. Box Tops for Education provides this link at the very top of their email message.
Keep it clean, clear and organized.
Use white space, columns and uniformity for your layout. As with newspapers, you want to get more headlines and more stories organized in front of the viewer. The area above the fold of the newspaper, or what’s on the screen without scrolling is considered “prime real estate.” Box Tops for Education provides a visually stimulating arrangement of tabs, columns, sections and graphics.
Make it short and stay focused.
Have a message or theme for your enewsletter, and stick with it. Keep it simple, and communicate your message in as few words as possible. Don’t throw in or add on paragraphs of fluff just because you can. We know from experience that users don’t like to scroll incessantly on web pages; same goes for email messages.
Provide an incentive to engage the reader.
Box Tops for Education provides than ‘Extra Credit’ section inviting the reader:
- to signup for exclusive deals
- to try quick recipes
- a reminder on where to find Box Tops
- save big by printing this month’s coupons
Also, there’s a brief survey just below the content area that invites the reader to help Box Tops For Education improve their newsletter.
