The 5 Basic Rules of Successful Email Marketing

On its face, email marketing might sound like a sure-shot way to increase sales and boost revenue. But before you take on an email marketing campaign, there are certain things you should know and think about first.

What are your email marketing goals? If you’ve done your homework, here are a few that you should strive for:

You want to reach the correct targets

Nothing kills an email marketing campaign like a lack of focus and direction. You want your email list and email marketing campaigns to be targeted to the best recipients, thus maximizing your chances of success.

You want your recipients to read your email

This is a very basic goal, but not always an easy task. Plan ahead and design a dynamic-looking layout. Write stimulating, crisp copy. Include pictures. If you do the best job you possibly can with your emails, you’ll see your open rates skyrocket.

You want to boost your sales

If you take care and truly plan out your email marketing layout, you have a good shot at reaching this goal. But think about the back end as well. Are you linking your email layout to targeted landing pages where customers can buy your product? Are you “making the case” on why customers should open their wallets? Consider these things when designing your email marketing campaigns.

You want to grow your email list in an ethical fashion

Combing Websites for email addresses or buying or renting lists are huge mistakes. You want your campaigns to be permission based. To do this, you should create a ListBuilder/sign-up box on your Website. Put one on every single page. Gather signatures this way. Gather signatures at trade shows and other events. Get the word out. But the critical point is that for every signature you gather, you have some way of showing that the person has given you permission to email them. Without that proof, you have nothing to show ISPs or ESPs if one of your customers – accidentally or not – marks your mail as spam.

You want to segment your list to make your campaigns more targeted

Keep careful track of your customer buying habits and send groups of customers targeted emails on what products or services they like. The more targeted you can make your campaigns, the better. If you have a small group that only likes a certain product and a larger one that spends more on a multitude of different products, adjust your email or HTML newsletter content accordingly.

Once you’ve launched your first campaign, make sure you go back and do plenty of analysis. But overall, don’t be afraid to be creative and “think outside the box” when it comes to email campaigns. The best, most successful email marketing campaigns have a touch of uniqueness to them. If you can follow that lead, you’ll see both your sale and open rates go up.