Appendix G: Tips for Creating a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

Build your list internally, even if it takes time, so the quality of your recipient list remains at a high level.

Keep an accurate audit of how your company received permission to contact the subscribers of the lists - some people forget they signed up to receive information.

Make membership to your list valuable by offering deals that non-members do not receive.

Make sure that your company's name (or product name) is clearly stated in the domain name, which appears in the "Sender" line of the email.

Use clearly stated words that describe what you want customers to respond to in both the "Subject" line and the body of your message.

Provide recipients with a clear way to contact you for more information, including a staffed telephone number or email address.

Provide subscribers with clear instructions of how to be removed from future mailings, and make sure that your Privacy Policy is easily accessible.

Plan mailings for specific, opportune times so subscribers are expecting your messages and are properly suited to respond.

Personalize headers with recipients' names, and tailor messages that are ideally suited for different target segments.

Choose software that is capable of performing as your lists grow, scans outgoing messages for viruses, and can measure the effectiveness of your campaign.

Don't send messages to anyone who did not request to receive information.

Don't purchase or rent lists of email addresses from brokers who are not reputable.

Don't use exclamation points, capitalized letters or other blatant marketing techniques that are synonymous with spammers.

Don't send irrelevant offers to members of your database - for example, if you run an online travel agency, do not send special airfares incentives that originate from airports that do not correspond with the zip codes members have provided.

Don't overload recipients with too many messages - only offer truly special deals.

Don't cram too many messages into a single email or send large attachments that may clog subscribers' inboxes.

Don't neglect to test messages for formatting errors, especially when sending HTML messages or when contacting AOL users.

Don't rely on your email program's spell checker - have several colleagues proofread your message for spelling and grammatical errors.

Don't sell or rent your email lists to other organizations unless you have been given specific permission to do so.

Don't expect every campaign to be an immediate home run - crafting quality messages takes time and requires feedback.

 

The full text of this article, "Email Marketing Best Practices", can be viewed and downloaded at: http://www.lsoft.com/resources/pdf/wp-EmailMarketingBestPractices.pdf