Imagine a company that spends tens of millions a year on lead generation — everything from TV and radio to full page space ads and direct mail and banners all over the net.
One such company is Fisher Investments with over $35 billion under management and headed by Forbes columnist, Ken Fisher.
How does such a behemoth screw up the email marketing basics like this?
Here was the email sent by Fisher Investments on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 2:38 PM PT. Imagine how many names this went out to with a marketing budget like theirs.
Subject: Surprising Prediction by Forbes Columnist Ken Fisher
Body: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio, you should download the latest report by Forbes columnist Ken Fisher. In it he tells you where he thinks the stock market is headed and why.
This must-read report includes his latest stock market prediction, plus research and analysis you can use in your portfolio right now.”
And now for the capper. There was no link in the email message.
This is an email marketing sin if ever there were one. The subject line was intriguing enough that it got me to open it — no small accomplishment these days.
Then I’m told an expert will be sharing a valuable prediction for where the market is headed. Okay, I’m ready for the content — beam me up Scotty.
And then…
They drop the ball. No link and no possibility for finding out this information. Moreover, there’s no chance for Fisher to gain a shred of business from such a gaff.
They did take the trouble to qualify the reader with the phrase: “If you have a $500,000 portfolio…” but that certainly wasn’t a condition for receiving the latest report. Was it?
Or maybe it was just a really sophisticated way of conveying that Fisher thinks the market is going sideways by omitting the link.
Either way, you always need to verify you’ve got a functioning link in your email message if your intention is to give your subscribers valuable content on a web page.
If you’re an email marketer, one way to get an immediate pop from your marketing efforts is to concentrate on your email marketing subject lines.
Hundreds of email marketers have already grabbed this subject line collection and discovered…
Lawerence,
Your information is dead on… ALWAYS! My guitar course has benefited tremendously (as have the students who were able to get into my sold out courses) from your valuable tips and guidance.
I can honestly say your advice is worth thousands of dollars and much to my surprise, more often than not, you pour it out on us free.
Not too many folks are so willing to extend a helping hand the way you have and for that, I am truly grateful.
Sincerely yours,
Jerry Wyatt
LearnGuitarFastAndEasy.com
I bought the subject lines that dare you to look away e-book and it’s a real winner – I always go to it when I have an email that just needs to be read!
Something in it always spikes the ‘winning idea’. It’s a real handy reference tool for anyone that does email marketing.
Disclaimer: I have no affiliate fees, comissions etc. for posting this. Heck, Lawrence wouldn’t know me if he met me in the street!
Hi Jerry,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe you can teach me how to use the wah-wah peddle sometime. I’m still a Hendrix fan. Cheers, Lawrence
Hi, your post will surely inform those marketers of the importance of links. In addition to a good content, it is equally important to get the emails to the inboxes of targeted audience. For example, Comm100 Newsletter can send free emails to the inboxes with 95% delivery rate or even higher. I think this means a lot in a successful email marketing campaign.