Email Marketing FAQ

Below are answers to commonly asked email marketing questions we receive on an ongoing basis. We hope this helps your email marketing efforts. For more insight and best practices information, explore our email marketing Resource Center and subscribe to our award-winning monthly newsletter, the Intevation Report.

		How to Show URLs?
		How to Use Alt Text?
		What's the Best Day/Time to Send?
		Brand Name In Subject or Sender Line?
		Embedded Images: Fewer Opens but Better Results?
		What's the best way to launch a new IP address?
		Can I Put an Ad in a Transactional Message?
		Can I Use Animation in My Email?
		Why Do ISPs Keep Blocking My Images?
		More Out of Transactional Emails?
		Is HTML Really Doomed for B-to-B Email?
		When to Ask for the Address?
		Creating Messages for PDA Readers
		Are PDFs OK for Email?
		If Most Newer or Upgraded Email Clients Block Images by Default, Do ALT Tags Really Help?
		Everybody Else Uses 'Free;' Why Can't I?
		Is it OK to Use The Same Subject Line?
		Besides Personalizing With the Recipient's Name, What Else Can We Do to Make Our Emails Stand Out In the Inbox?
		How Do I Know If My Message Gets Messed Up?
		What is the average click-through rate for email newsletters?
		What is the average open rate for email newsletters?
		What are your thoughts and recommendations on plain text vs. graphically based/HTML enewsletters?
		When sending multiple enewsletters, is it advisable to use the same email reply address on all of the enewsletters?
		Which of the following is most likely to cause an email to be blocked by an ISP or corporate filter: Content, volume, bounce percentage or black list-based filters?
		What are some of the basics of content filtering?
		We are a respected and credible organization. Would we get filtered out by using phrases such as "enter online contest and win prizes!" in the subject line?
		You wrote in an article that the word "tips" is a good word to use in a subject line to encourage a reader to open an email. Are there any other "buzz" words that work well when usedin the subject line?
		Are HTML emails more likely to be filtered in MS Outlook than plain text emails?
		Do you have recommendations for message content checker software?
		Can you recommend resources for more specific technical aspects of building HTML emails, like open-rate beacons and changes in embedding images?
		Can you recommend any bulk email software programs, particularly ones that monitor click-throughs?
		How do you get on a white list?
		Who should we use to check our inbound emails for SPAM?
		How do you get removed from black lists?
		I've noticed that a lot of our bounces and none of our opens/click-throughs are from certain ISPs. How do we get past these filters (assuming we are being blocked)?
		When is the best time to send an enewsletter?
		Are there any benchmarks for unsubscribe rates?
		How can you clean up an old e-mail list without affecting the good e-mails on it?