In today’s world social media seems to dominate most discussions related to online marketing.  However, one of the most successful, cost effective methods that should not be overlooked is still email.  Don’t loose track of opportunities to leverage email - it’s a winner when it’s done right. Here is a list of the top 10 tips to help guide you.

1. Understand the Regulations and the Rules

When you set out to use email as a marketing tool, be sure to research the CAN-SPAM Act and to understand the best practices approach to be compliant. A primary example of the regulations is enabling subscribers with the ability to unsubscribe, and when they do, they must be removed within 10 days.  There are other important parts of the Act which can be viewed at  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm

2. Build Your Own List - Don’t Buy One

Whenever you send an Unsolicited e-mail, you violate CAN SPAM. You must get permission from your subscribers.  It’s important to develop strategies and skills to build your list. The risk of buying and using a list are enormous. You can be quickly “black listed” and your company’s reputation can become damaged.

3. Personalize Subscriber Communications

Personalized content gets the best results as the value of relevant information delivered to match user preferences is huge. Many studies have proven that personalized content produces the best response including better open, read and click through rates compared to the one size fits all approach.

4. Get To The Point

Don’t overwhelm readers with content overload. Provide subscribers with enough information to take a desired action, such as buying an item, or clicking through to a web page for more detailed information. Overwhelming the reader will turn them off and could lead to an Unsubscribe.

5. Use Landing Pages

In conjunction with number 4 above, use landing pages. Leading readers back to landing pages that support content contained in email is a best practice. Doing so makes it easy for readers to scan an email and determine which content they are interested in and then clicking to read more or to take important next steps. Landing pages are very important and must be designed effectively. Please spend some time researching best practices for landing page design and development.

6. Consistent Frequency

If you are following best practices, then I hope to assume you are delivering valuable, personalized and relevant content to your permission based list. This being the case, it’s fair to think that your readers are looking forward to receiving your communications and want to know when to expect it. This is why consistent frequency is important. The more consistent the frequency of your email sends, the more your readers will look forward to receiving them.

7. Segmentation

Let’s face it, every subscriber is unique. That’s why personalization is so important. Understanding what makes subscribers different and then grouping them respectively enables you to increase the effectiveness of the communications that you send to them.

8. Track & Measure Results

Measuring results enables you to understand what is working and what’s not. The ability to improve is a huge opportunity that must be seized. Leveraging good testing practices will provide important insights that will help you achieve your email communication goals faster.

9. Proofread

The obvious is often overlooked. Proofreading should go without saying, but I get email communications  with spelling and grammatical errors in them all the time. Sloppy content makes your brand look sloppy. Don’t let this happen to you - make sure you have a QA process in place to support your email marketing campaigns.

10. Quality Content Is King

Delivering valuable, relevant content to your subscribers is the back-bone of successful, ongoing email communications. It’s important to take the time to plan and develop content that is of interest to your subscribers.  Doing research, using surveys and sometimes, simply asking readers what they want from you are good ways to determine what to include in your content mix.  Testing is another way to understand what resonates with readers.

If you have any questions about these tips or others that you would like to share, please let me know .