What good is having a killer, highly targeted e-mail drip marketing system if no one opens the messages? In this third and last installment on how to create your ultimate e-mail marketing machine, you will explore all the ways you can make your campaign messages so completely and totally irresistible, recipients won’t be able to help themselves from reading every business-generating word!

Nearly everyone with an e-mail account today receives 10s if not 100s of unsolicited spam messages a day. Therefore one of the most important first goals of your campaign is to have your recipients immediately and consistently recognize your message as important to read. And it's all in how you structure your subject line.

Instantly Grab Their Attention

Ideally, the subject line for each of your campaign messages has a consistent and distinctive "look", style, and naming convention. Most e-mail software programs let you use any of your standard keyboard characters as part of the subject text. This makes for some interesting, eye-catching possibilities. Also, it is important to consistently "name" the subject of the message content, preferably using a benefit oriented statement or open-ended question. CLICK HERE to see an example of how to structure the subject line for a First-Time Buyer campaign message in a way that your recipients can't miss it and want to read on.

Another way to arrest the instant attention of your recipients is to include a streaming audio recording of your voice. ProAutoresponder lets you create a recording of your message the same way you create a voice mail. For most recipients, your message starts playing automatically within moments of it being opened. Here are some things to consider for maximizing the impact of this powerful attention-getting tool:

• Keep it short - a voice message any longer than 30 - 45 seconds can be annoying to the recipient;
• Begin with an open-ended question - this will cause your recipients to become immediately engaged, rather than "shut-down" from a series of statements;
• Make it interesting - your voice message is the segue into the body of your e-mail, make it powerful and attention getting;
• Practice, practice, practice - script out your voice message and then practice it until it sounds natural —like you are speaking to your best friend!

Now that you have their attention, here's how to format your message so they will keep reading.

The Medium Is NOT The Message —But It Sure Can Help!

There are two primary formats for e-mail messages: Text-only and HTML (some e-mail clients support RTF as well, but I don't recommend using it because of inherent limitations, and potential confusion by recipients). It has been proven that well-designed HTML e-mail messages will have a higher response rate than plain TEXT messages. To see why, take a look at the same message (from one of my own campaigns) both in TEXT and HTML format (NOTE: just click the respective link —you must be using Outlook or Outlook Express to view these messages).

You will notice that even the TEXT message had some semblance of a well-formatted structure. This is particularly important for text message readability. While HTML is the desired format for your campaign messages, not everyone can read it. This is one of the areas where ProAutoresponder really shines, in that it allows you to send the message in "multi-part" format, which consists of both the TEXT and HTML version simultaneously. When sent this way, the recipient's e-mail software will automatically show the version that it can read. This is why it is important to have a TEXT and HTML version of each message.

In case you are wondering where you can have your HTML message templates designed, just go to the same place I did —Elance.com to find a Virtual Consultant who specializes in HTML e-mail message design. I found someone who is incredible and has designed HTML mail for companies like HP, Cisco Systems, etc. —for about a third of what it would cost in my hometown.

Well, that's about it. As you can see, there is quite a bit of thought and work that goes into creating and launching a powerful, compelling, and business generating e-mail drip marketing system. Be sure to review PART I and PART II of this three-part series to firm up your grasp of the subject. And don't forget, there are plenty of talented Virtual Consultant to help you create and design the messages, and Virtual Assistants to help run the program once it has been built.