Email marketing is one of the most effective communication methods when it is utilized properly. It is critical to

• know your audience and segment it accordingly;

• monitor opens, clicks, and shares;

• reintroduce and retarget as needed;

• deliver concise, direct copy.

For Cougar Tales, the CofC Alumni e-newsletter, we send it on the second Thursday each month to over 50,000 alumni email addresses.

Best Practices for CofC Alumni Association

Our average email open rate for emails to various alumni groups continues to improve. We boast an average of 30 percent. We continue to send emails from a person’s name, such as a staff member, an officer, or a Club leader, rather than from the Alumni Association; we’ve started inserting the recipient’s nickname in the salutation; and for emails going to all alumni, we segment the list and send it separately to those who have opened our emails in the past and those for whom we do not have a record of opening the email. This helps us avoid spam filters.

I apply these best practices to other alumni newsletters, for schools and departments to help reach and engage their alumni via email.

Here is one of my favorite examples of Cougar Tales.