If so, the header can often shed some light on this issue. The header is basically a tracking record of the route the email you sent took and the stops it made along the way to get to the customer’s inbox.

Just like sending something across the country by post emails also need to stop off at various points, the headers show you this exact route and reveal these stops. They also show the details of the sender and the recipients. Headers also reveal more about the different ISP’s through the information they chose to include

Every email landing in an inbox is given a header. So why haven’t you seen one? This is more than likely because each email client (that’s the service or program you use to read you emails – like Outlook, Hotmail, Googlemail etc) hides these headers in a different way. They are hidden from view because unless you’re an email marketer trying to find out more about your email deliverability, the header is not that interesting to see.

For more information on how to see headers on different email platforms go to:

http://www.abika.com/Reports/Samples/emailheaderguide.htm

Know your audience, ask what they want, and deliver it.

Send frequently

Laws are not standard across Europe – depending on your market always check with the laws of the country you are dealing with. Below is a summary of the principles of UK law.

The basics

• The nature of your message must be clear to the recipient from the start- you must not disguise the origin or purpose of the message.
• You must always have an unsubscribe link (or  a way for users to unsubscribe).
• Recipients must have opted in to receive your updates.
  

There are two exceptions to the opt in rule:

• You can promote your business to employees of a Limited Company.
• If someone has bought (or negotiated to buy) something from you, and provided their email address, you can promote related goods and services to them.
• You must still provide an opt out service.

 ‘Forward to a Friend’ emails

• If you are planning a ‘forward to a friend’ email then you must make it clear that the recipient should only forward the email to people who will be happy to receive it.
• If you offer an incentive to people who forward the email, and it’s sent to people who are unhappy to receive it, then you are liable as the instigator of that email.
• You cannot ask a receiver to provide you with other people’s email addresses, unless you have the specific consent of those individuals – whether directly to you or via the original recipient.

 Summary:

• You can ask a recipient if they mind you passing on their details to a third party organisation to promote their products.
• You must ensure, however,  that the third party is reputable and complies with the law
• You can send genuine business-related emails to your existing customers, or to people who have left their details with you i.e. during an enquiry, provided the email is about a similar product/service.
• You MUST NOT treat competitions etc. as a way of building a mailing list – recipients must actually request to opt in to receive promotional emails
• You must ensure that the recipient has actually opted in. It is your responsibility to check this.
• You must always keep up to date with the legal principles surrounding email marketing.
• It may help to appoint somebody to do this.
• Breaches of legal principles can be costly both monetary and in terms of reputation.
• Always check the Data Protection Act- it is updated regularly and terms contained in the US version breach terms in the UK version.

Keep checking our news section for an update on Data Protection law and how it affects your business!

Stop…..check your email checklist!

Before you click send check your email checklist to avoid embarrassing mistakes. If you don’t have a checklist here are a few things we recommend putting on yours.

• Test your subject line for readability in different email programmes then…
• Check how your email appears in different email programmes
• Do the first 15 characters contain the main hook?
• Does it contain any spam filter words? – Free, click here, act now
• Does the link point to the correct landing page
• Does your email have the mandatory information – think about what you need to be putting in every email – i.e. a register now link, dates/times/location of events etc
• Most importantly think about how it will look to the recipient. Consider the design and layout – make the first sentence snappy and short.

And don’t forget…..check, check and check again…..

Use your checklist every time you send a newsletter and your email campaign will always run smoothly and efficiently.