It won’t do his ego any favors to broadcast this fact, but my dog Simon is absolutely adorable. As a result, we talk a lot about Simon at the ividence office and many photos are shared.

In some ways, sending email ads is like owning a dog. Email advertising is all about winning over a new audience, and Simon is certainly good at that. So I thought I’d share some of the tips I learned from Simon to succeed with stand-alone email ads (and as a pet owner).

1. Being cute is helpful for both dogs and email  . . .

   For a dog, being cute definitely helps in making new friends. In the same way, you’re going to see more success with your email ad if it looks good.

   Double check the creative to ensure that you have no broken code, no missing images, and no grammatical or spelling errors. You should also check that your email renders correctly in different email clients (and for mobile, of course). In short, take that puppy to the groomers before you send it out to make new friends for your company.

2.  . . . But being cute isn’t enough.
   Even for a dog as adorable as Simon, there are other factors at play when meeting a new person. You’ve also got to get the right introduction. In my case, it usually just takes letting new people know that it’s ok to pet or play with Simon.

   For email ads, it means that your brand should be introduced by the list owner. Their name should be included in the From fields of the email, and they should have a header before the email to remind the subscriber of why they’re receiving this email. Though it may be tempting to keep all of the branding your own, you will see lower ROI and a big hit to your brand’s reputation if you don’t get the right introduction to a new audience.

3. You’ve got to play to your audience.
   As impossible as it seems to me, some people just aren’t dog people—or even pet people. Simon is pretty small, so he’s not very threatening. Even so, letting him rush up to someone who isn’t big on animals can be a bad experience for him as well as for that person.

   When you send email ads, you may not know the audience directly, but the list owner or the ad exchange (like ividence) should. They should be able to tell you about the consumers receiving your ad and explain to you what the process is for targeting your ad to only records likely to be interested in your company.

4. You have to pay attention to a lot of different data.
   Just like a dog, an email ad can’t tell you if something is wrong—let alone what. At any given time, you need to notice your dog’s health, behavior, and mood, in addition to watching for recalls on his food and toys.

   In an email ad program, you pay attention to response levels on the open, click, and conversion levels in order to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of the campaign. It’s important to get data in a clear, actionable format and to send in a controlled manner so that you have time to react (rather than sending batch and blast emails).

5.  Last point… don’t be deceptive…
   You build a long-term relationship with your dog, and you have to build one with your audience too. Tell (sell) them the truth, the reality of your features or product. If you fool them, they won’t like you (or your brand) anymore

So, do you have any pet owner tricks for improving your email marketing strategy?

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Mary Byrne

Mary Byrne leads ividence’s sales and marketing team in the U.S. as SVP, Americas. She has nearly 15 years of experience in the technology sector, with special emphasis on advertising technology and email deliverability. Previously, Mary led the sales, marketing, and client services efforts at DoubleClick, Microsoft and Level 3 Communications. She can be reached at mb@ividence.com.