If you’re like most companies today, you send electronic communications to prospects, current customers and stakeholders.

Recent research from Monetate, an e-commerce software firm, shows that 4.25 percent of visitors who arrive at a website through an email turn into customers. In contrast, Monetate found that only 0.59 percent of visitors who arrive via social media turn into customers.

The lesson? E-blasts – when used properly – yield significant results for your business. Misusing an e-blast can have the opposite effect, however. What are the ingredients for a winning e-blast?

• Clean copy. Did you edit your copy carefully? Did you overuse exclamation marks? Is your point clear? Is your copy too long? These are important questions to ask yourself before you send an e-blast. A well-edited, concise e-blast will go a lot further than something sloppy. Two paragraphs of copy – a couple of sentences and maybe a few bullet points – is all you need.

• Clean coding. Make sure whoever puts together your formatted e-blast knows what they’re doing. Be sure to remove [TEST] tags from the subject line. Eliminate sloppy HTML, which usually rears its ugly head when converting Microsoft Word to HTML. Edit the final layout with an eye toward eliminating any errant tags or other bad code that made it into the e-blast. If these types of errors show up, readers will not be impressed.

• No gimmicks. Don’t promise the moon, and don’t write too aggressively. For example, lead sentences like, “For only $100, you can get …” usually scare people away. While you’re at it, go ahead and remove “free offer” and “risk-free” from your e-blast vocabulary as well. Show that you’re adding value, and let people know you can fill a need.

• Don’t overwhelm. Aside from managing the content of individual e-blasts, make sure you’re not doing yourself a disservice by inundating subscribers with emails. There is no standard frequency when it comes to sending e-blasts, but a good rule of thumb is a minimum of once a month and a maximum of once a week. The worst thing a company can do is turn a loyal reader into someone who hits the unsubscribe button, and readers frequently opt out of e-communications when companies flood their inboxes.

At the end of the day, a well-crafted e-blast is good for your business and can promote products and services that help your customers. Take these steps to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.

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