Effective Use of Email Marketing: Part 1

Figures don’t lie. And… they speak in favor of email marketing. In 2009, email marketing generated a return-on-investment (ROI) of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it. The estimated figure for 2010 is $42.08.

Email marketing continues to outperform all other direct marketing tools and experts believe the trend is here to stay for long.

So, the question now is not whether you should use email as a marketing tool or not, instead how effective is your email marketing campaign.

Here are the top 7 email marketing tips.

1. Know the objective – Before you send an email, you should be clear about your objective. You need to decide whether you want to persuade, request action, inform, or motivate the recipients. A clearer objective, in turn, helps you in formulating an effective email.
2. Know the audience – Do you want the whole world to listen to what you have to say, or you want your words to reach out to only a limited few?Sending the right message to the right people is the key of an effective email marketing campaign.
3. Keep it short and simple – The problem with long emails—even when the matter is relevant—is that no one has time to read them.So, do yourself and your recipients a favor and say what you have to say in fewer words. When it comes to length of email content vis-à-vis effectiveness of email marketing, always remember one rule – less is more.
4. A clear subject line – The subject line is the most important component of an email. Sometimes, even more important than the content itself!Keep the description in the subject line clear, relevant to the subject, and catchy. Often, what you say in the subject line decides whether your recipients will read the email or send it to the trash bin.
5. State important things first – Always state the most important things at the top of your email. Use rest of the email to support the theme of your email. For instance, if you are informing your customer about a sale then declare the sale in the first line itself. Use the rest of the email to describe more facts about the sale.
6. One email one subject – Don’t include more than one theme in your email. It will only confuse the recipients and they are unlikely to absorb even one subject.
7. Say your expectations loud and clear – Be loud and clear on what you want your recipients to do next. And provide them with all the information they need to do it.

Now that you the know how to use email marketing effectively, the focus needs to shift on how to plan your email marketing campaign.