How to Kick Ass at E-mail Marketing
How to Kick Ass at E-mail Marketing
Posted on 07/17/2009, by
DMC
We all have subscriptions to different news sources, newsletters, and products we like whether it’s via RSS or a daily/weekly/monthly e-mail. The majority of these e-mails we sign up to receive because we are interested in their content, but the second their content stops being relevant or starts being boring we click that beautiful ‘unsubscribe’ button.
I recently signed up for the Oakley mailing list (best sunglasses ever – personal opinion), and their first e-mail took me by storm. It blew my mind.

The text says the following:
“Thanks for signing up. You’re probably wondering, “What the hell did I get myself into now?” Welcome to the dark side.
First thing’s first: forget everything you know. About how companies are supposed to inform subscribers. About your perception of status quo. In fact, why don’t you leave those things at home. Because in our world, there aren’t a whole lot of rules. Defying conventional thinking may be the only one.”
Wow. Way to get me engaged, I cannot wait to see the next tongue-in-cheek e-mail from these guys. The e-mail got my attention and has me immediately engaged in their message. But most importantly it achieve the number one goal of any great e-mail campaign – it made me want to click through to whatever is next. The bottom line in generating attention is – be unexpected. If your e-mail captures attention and speaks to directly to your audience they’ll take the next step for you. Always, always, always know your audience. It is the MOST important building block of any marketing effort ever…ever.
-Gavin