'Focus on the reader' with email marketing

One of the key aspects of an email campaign is the reader - something many marketers overlook, it has been noted.

Writing on web resource Adotas, industry commentator Blaine Mathieu explains many webmasters do not focus on their audience when creating email messages which make use of complex fonts, colours and flash animation.

"At the end of the day, email is still a medium of words written for people. Words make or break an email campaign," he asserts.

Mr Mathieu states matters are complicated by the fact that consumers read computer screens in a different fashion to a printed page, noting estimates which suggest the average email is only open for two to five seconds before an action is taken by the reader.

He explains when it comes to websites, a user who has a frustrating experience on one will switch to another but tends not to "hold a grudge" against the first one.

"In email interactions, the user, by opening the email, has made a somewhat deeper commitment and souring that relationship by serving a poorly conceived message can have lasting effects," Mr Mathieu concludes, urging marketers to consider content above all else.

Meanwhile, commentator Mathew Patterson recently wrote in .net magazine that an effective HTML email marketing campaign can provide users with an enhanced reading experience.