If you think your e-marketing is getting lost in the mass of emails in your clients’ inbox, you’re not alone. Competing for the attention of time-starved business people is a challenge, but there are ways to cut through the clutter. How? Start by getting personal! Transform your email marketing into effective, personalized communications your clients want to receive. These 7 tips will help you develop an e-marketing campaign that will help strengthen business relationships and drive sales:

1. Get Permission!The difference between spam and permission-based email marketing is that the recipient has asked to receive the information, thus giving you permission to send it to them. To get that permission, you need to offer something of value – an informative newsletter or promotional offer, for example – in exchange for the customer agreeing to receive your messages and, often, to provide valuable personal information and preferences.Always include a way for people to unsubscribe in all email campaigns. Be sure to monitor unsubscribes as well as the number of new subscribers, so you can to gauge the effectiveness of different subject matter, offers, etc.
2. Don’t Reinvent the WheelA valuable strategy is to research what others are doing. Subscribe to e-newsletters from respected organizations in your industry and beyond, even competitors, where possible. Make note of the things that make you want to open some, but delete others. You can also use these publications to suggest ideas for subject matter you may want to cover in your own publication.
3. Give Your People What They Want! Start with a subject line that captures immediate interest, and add article headlines that make people want to read more. Then, make sure to customize your messages so they appeal to clients’ needs and interests. You can also ask them what they want to hear about! Are they interested in product news? Special offers? Tips and how-to guides? Once you know what interests them, give it to them consistently and watch your response rates soar. Finally, keep it short and simple – your e-communication should require minimal scrolling to keep readers engaged.
4. How Much is Too Much?While it’s important to stay in front of your customers and prospects, it’s equally important not to be an annoyance. In most cases, emailing once a month strikes a balance between keeping your brand and company name top of mind without irritating your subscribers. Emailing more frequently may turn off recipients and increase your unsubscribe rate.
5. Something for Everyone Once you’ve got a compelling message, you can offer it in a variety of ways to suit different audiences. You might accompany your communication with audio, video and/or animation to create more excitement and visual appeal. That said, it’s always a good idea to have a plain text version for those recipients that prefer it.Look for upcoming issues of 5th Insight for new audio and video components.
6. Testing 1-2-3Test the effectiveness of each email campaign by using different subject lines, different wording, unique offers, a different colour/design etc. Through testing you’ll be able to find the winning combination that works for you.
7. Measure Your Success! Measuring the results of your email marketing efforts allows you to understand what works – and what doesn’t – so you can maximize the effectiveness of each campaign. Select an email marketing software that automatically manages and tracks results so campaign analysis is quick and easy.