Email Marketing Tips and Tricks:

Reports show that email marketing is one of the fastest growing marketing segments. Email marketing, when done correctly, returns more dollars on your investment than any other marketing strategy. Email marketing results are simple to measure using your standard performance matrix and tools. Running a successful email marketing campaign takes time, efforts and lot of fine tuning to filter out the non productive components. However, successful marketing managers can attest to the power of smart email marketing. Remember email marketing is not a substitute for your direct marketing efforts. A well planned and executed email campaign can easily prove the value and strength of integrated and targeted email marketing, of careful coordination between email and direct marketing.

Take a look at the following questions?

1. Do you spend a lot of money and energy on your marketing efforts?
2. Do you capture email addresses of your visitors and hope to convert them in to paying customers?
3. Do meet your email marketing goals on a regular basis and generate enough revenue and Return on Investment (ROI) to justify your email marketing efforts?
4. Do you have a solid plan in place to create, run and manage an effective email marketing strategy and build a great customer relationship in coming years?

These are very basic questions. However, these questions are focused on marketing techniques that is not very well understood by direct marketing people. Designing and running an effective email marketing campaign requires careful planning and we have outlined some of the most important aspects of a successful email marketing campaign.

1. It is all about timing:

You have probably heard it before but how does it apply to email marketing? A research study shows that over 40% of email messages are opened the day they are received. However, that still leaves us with 60% email messages not read right away. Some people would ask if a certain day or part of the week works better than the rest. A couple years ago, most experts agreed that the best time to send business-to-business e-mail was Tuesday through Thursday. But recent reports show that weekends and Mondays are winning the game for "Click-Through Rates" (CTR's). This should help you take a closer look at your motive behind your email marketing campaign. For example, if you hope to trigger a click to your web site, then Sunday or Monday by the evidence is a good option.

Note, however, that since this information has been available to email marketers for some time now, the current click-through trends could change as inboxes begin to fill up more on Monday afternoons. So keep an close eye on the trend and new research numbers!

2. Choose HTML format for Email Marketing:

Some people would ask “Why HTML?” As most people already know, HTML allow you to retain greater control on the format and look and feel of your message. Email campaign created in HTML allows you to include pictures and/or design elements that improve email open rates and the click-through rates since your readers are visually enticed. Recent study suggests that an estimated 95% of all commercial email messages are sent in HTML or in a combined HTML and text format. Staying with the most common technology also allow you to take full advantage of available tools and products to create and manage your email marketing campaigns.

But there are certain audiences who prefer or require plain text e-mails. If you have a segment of your list such as this, then be sure to send them the text version of your message. You should also be aware that some email servers would not download images and graphics elements without user first requesting it. This could make your email message look like a web page with bunch of broken links and missing images.

3. Comply with the Law:

Federal Trade Commission has a fairly strict definition of "commercial" with respect to e-mail messages. As a responsible email marketer, you should completely focus on getting customer permission for email deliveries. This will help increase the effectiveness of your email marketing and reduce the chances of your message getting deleted or flagged as spam. If you continue to spam people without their permissions, you may run into issues with your ISP and email hosting company. FTC very clearly specifies that if your message is commercial, whether you send it to one or one million, it is subjected to government regulations. Creating and maintaining a permission based opt-in list allows you to send your email marketing messages without first labeling them as advertisements.

According to FTC, following forms of email communication is considered non-commercial:
E-mail soliciting charitable contributions
E-mail which contains transactional or relationship messages
E-mail in which the primary purpose is educational

Please keep in mind that if you are sending commercial e-mail in any way, shape, or form, you must include:
The physical address of the sender (A PO Box address is not acceptable)
An Opt-out mechanism

4. Stay on the Message:

Just like any other marketing media, do not lose focus of your end goal. Poorly composed email marketing campaign not only cost you money, it also waster valuable time for your customers. If you continue to do so, your customers may label your email messages as spam and not even bother to read them. It is important to send messages that are relevant and informative.