Dedicated HTML Blasts
Samples
Click on the subject line links below to see some of our highest performing HTML blasts.
Subject Line: New site offers Free movie clips!
Subject Line: Church-wide Preaching Campaigns for 2007
Subject Line: Give new life to struggling churches
Subject Line: George Barna knows the foundation your kids need
Specifications
Email advertising is an exceptional marketing opportunity, but also an interesting advertising challenge, because it lacks broad industry standards and theories abound with conflicting ideas. After processing, creating, and revising several hundred dedicated HTML blasts and tracking the results, I have narrowed my theory down to this: success will be directly related to: deliverability (spam rating and sender integrity), subject line (which gets your email opened) and the content (which prompts a click-thru). Below you will find specifications along with some additional recommendations to help you get the best return on your investment.
~ Krista Veteto, Marketing Manager of the Outreach Media Group
| Dimensions | Image Size | Materials Needed | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 600 x 600-800 pixels (recommended) | 300K maximum (40K recommended) |
1) .HTML file 2) Subject Line 3) Zipped folder with images 4) Text Backing (not required) |
9 days before send |
| Please submit FINAL artwork/material. If you need to resubmit artwork after it has been processed for approval there will be an $85 'reprocessing fee'. | |||
Email materials to webads@outreach.com
- CAN-SPAM compliance: We comply with the CAN-SPAM legislation and each email we send contains a footer with the required information and unsubscribe options. In addition to compliance with CAN-SPAM we protect the integrity of our list and our reputation as a sender by running a spam check on every email - this rating to be lower than 2.0. If your email triggers a higher rating we will work with you to make necessary adjustments to reduce the rating.
- Image Maps: We are unable to track click-throughs on Image Maps. If you submit materials with Image Maps we will need you confirm that you do not expect accurate click-through results. Slicing-up an image and placing the pieces within a table (a very easy alternative to image maps in most design software) will lower your spam rating and increase your deliverability.
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheet): A large amount of mail browsers remove or modify CSS coding in emails. Please design your HTML following guidelines on what CSS works in which mail browsers, click here for a site that Outreach designers refer to.
Additional Recommendations
- Subject Line: The subject line is one of the most important parts of your email as it determines the open rate. A strong subject line should be no longer than 60 characters in length. Beware of using too many spammy words and/or punctuation marks as this can trigger the spam rating.
- Prominent Messaging: The most important part of your message should go in the top left corner as this is the first thing a viewer will see. This messaging should be similar/connected to your subject line - consistency with messaging will increase your click rates.
- Images & Text: An ad consisting of multiple images and text will achieve a higher deliverability rate than an HTML with a single image. If you will only be using images I recommend having your designer slice up the image into several pieces, making no image larger than 480x480. I also recommend providing ALT tags on your images as a majority of mail browsers do not automatically download images.
- Linking & URLs: Insert as many links into your email as possible (all of your images should be linked), as the more “real estate” on the page that is clickable, the better the click-through results. Use "Click Here for more information" on your links instead of putting the actual URL, as displayed URLs increase spam ratings.
- Text Backing: We provide automatically generated text backing to reduce your spam rating, increases your deliverability and allow more subscribers to see your message. If you would like to provide specific text that will display when a subscriber has their preferences set to "text only" please send a .txt file along with your other materials.
