An email marketing campaign can be a successful business tool: they are inexpensive and can reach a wide range of contacts in a short period of time. Both small and large businesses can use email marketing effectively, provided they are targeted and follow the rules of other legitimate marketing campaigns.
Send Only to Opt-in Recipients
If you are purchasing a list of email addresses, be sure to use a company that only sells addresses of people who have agreed to receive marketing emails in your topic area. This ensures that you are not perceived negatively and that your campaign will reach people who are likely to be interested in your product or service.
Proofread
Marketing emails are highly visible, and should be treated with as much attention to detail as any other form of professional communication. Be sure to proofread for typos and edit to be sure that your content makes sense and is relevant.
Test Blaster Before Sending
A marketing email with layout problems or an incorrect link can disqualify your business and cause potential buyers to miss important information. Before you send out an email blaster, be sure to run at least two tests to make certain that links function properly, that the formatting is correct in the HTML version, and that the plain-text version contains no spelling errors in translating link text.
Don't Overload Recipients
The fastest way to ruin an email marketing campaign is to overwhelm potential customers' inboxes with emails; no matter how relevant and important the information is, the sheer volume will create a poor relationship. Send blasters at regular intervals that make sense for your business: once a quarter might be enough for an engineering firm, while a daily email wouldn't be unreasonable for a restaurant with lunch specials.
Offer the Option to Unsubscribe
To keep your email list clean, be sure to include the option to unsubscribe from future emails. This communicates to customers that you respect their preferences and interests. The option can be as simple as a "please email this address to unsubscribe" line at the bottom, or you can invest in an online unsubscribe service to handle list maintenance.
Track Email Performance
A marketing campaign is most successful when you can measure and analyze the results. Most email blasting programs will allow you to monitor statistics like clicks back to the website, number of new subscribers, number of people who unsubscribe, and conversion rates.
Follow the CAN-Spam Act
For any marketing campaign, it is crucial to adhere to legal boundaries governing marketing activities. The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 lays out the legal transmission rules for marketing campaigns, including items pertaining to misleading or deceptive information, time limits for opt-out requests, and solicitation identification.