When you’re a small library, there isn’t always a person or department that has been trained to craft newsletters and other messages for the public; however, there are some simple tips to consider when you are acting as the marketer for your library.

Credibility is crucial. The true art of email marketing is knowing when and how often a person should be contacted by email. Too little and they forget that you are there; too much, and off to the spam blacklist you go. Think of emails as a commodity or a natural resource to help your frame of mind. If it took your library several months to years to build up your list, it is in your library’s best interest to make this expendable resource last for future generations.

Your email address and subject line must be credible. Have the address include the library’s name, or something identifiable. Don’t use any free email account. It could look like spam. Make your message subject clear, concise, and context-specific. Most people triage their mail by the subject line, and a poorly worded subject is very likely to be skipped, recycled, or spammed. Make sure you use separate email addresses for marketing versus circulation information. Patrons have a habit of marking overdue notices as spam. Never use your personal email library address (the only exception to this rule may be the library director).

When you use an email address that can receive responses to your mailings, make sure you check it regularly and respond promptly.

Write compelling copy. This cannot be stressed enough. Many people mark things as spam because they just don’t understand why they received the message or what it has to say. Make the email or newsletter short and sweet so that it can be scanned easily; remember, many of your patrons are reading on the go from a mobile device. Use links judiciously. A poorly designed email begets poor results.

Be judicious with email attachments. Most email readers regard attachments with suspicion anyway, and the attachment may trigger spam filters set up to screen unwanted material. Many of your readers may have limited inbox space; by avoiding attachments, you won’t give them an extra reason to delete your newsletter unread.

If at all possible, preview your email communications in an email client, like Outlook, as well as on a mobile device. Don’t let your email presentation turn people off because something has gone awry in their viewing environment.

Spam and blacklists were mentioned in our last blog entry. Bulk mailings, like library newsletters, can get caught, and library emails can end up on the blacklists. As you write and then send your newsletter, work with either the library’s IT departments or whomever handles your email to stay current with any messages received about bad email addresses or anything else that is received. Finally, keep working and keep trying. Newsletters will only get better with practice.

The post Optimizing Your Library’s E-Newsletters first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Never send your newsletter or marketing materials unsolicited, not even to current patrons. Unless you have specified this on their card application, most patrons expect only to receive hold pickup, courtesy, and overdue notice emails. This suggestion does not mean you can never send marketing to your patrons. What this means is that you will get a better response from your patrons if you send a courtesy note explaining that you have their email on record and your library is hoping to use this for further contact. Along with this message, make sure that there is a clear way for your patrons to opt-out from future communication.

Steer clear of subject lines that scream spam! Words like “free,” “limited time,” and “money” often trigger spam filters. While this seems obvious, sometimes the marketing side of our brains gets the better of us.  Take a look at the spam in your own inbox for examples of words to avoid.

Don’t overuse caps. We all know that typing all in caps is just rude, but overusing caps to emphasize titles and content in your newsletters may get your newsletter marked as spam.

Use professional grammar and punctuation. An unprofessional or overly mechanical email may be more likely to arouse the suspicions of your readers.

Send your mail from a reputable domain name. Or better yet, your own. Free email addresses are often used heavily by spammers.

Try to use specific addresses for specific bulk mail. If your library sends holds pick up notices and overdue notices, then the email should reflect that and should not be used for marketing. Patrons have a habit of marking overdue notice emails as spam.

Offer directions for “subscribing” and “unsubscribing.” Spammers often use the word “remove” in their emails, so you’ll want to avoid it at all costs. Plus, in some spam filters, you actually lose points (the fewer points, the less likely an email is spam) when you offer subscribing and unsubscribing instructions. Let them know who to contact if they have any trouble. And, of course, make sure to follow through immediately. If your library doesn’t have mailing list capabilities, there are many organizations or companies your library can purchase this service from.

Watch the size of your newsletters and communication. While your material may be gorgeous to the eye, the size of the email may be a red flag for some filters to block your mail at the door for being too large.

Finally, one of the most important things you’ll need to be aware of is the blacklist. We have alluded to this earlier, but what is the dreaded blacklist? It is the bane of the existence of many libraries. It is a collection of email addresses and domain names that send out a lot of spam. Blacklists are primarily compiled by crowdsourcing. In other words, when you or I mark something as spam (even by accident) the information regarding the sender is sent off to a blacklist somewhere. In some instances, this is an automated process built around the “guilty until proven innocent” concept; in other cases, volunteers examine the sender information and then decide whether or not to add the sender to their list.

Because many spam filters have both a computer component (such as the points system used by SpamAssassin) and a list component (such as the blacklists like the Spamhaus Project), you’ll need to make sure your newsletter doesn’t raise flags in either camp.

One of the easiest ways to find out if your library has made it to one blacklist of another is to make sure your mail administrator checks the bounced/rejected emails. If you find that many of your messages are being rejected by one domain or another, you may have been added to a blacklist. Conveniently in most cases, the rejection email has all the information necessary to go through the process of removing your library from a particular blacklist.

The biggest takeaway is when you keep up-to-date on the latest spam filter technology, you may find spam filters are actually your allies, not only in helping keep your inbox clean but also in making sure your newsletter or email will have less competition in your patrons’ inboxes.

The post Avoiding Your Patrons’ Spam Filters first appeared on Public Libraries Online.