Smart marketers maximize every dollar with messages and media that are simple, direct, affordable and measurable. What tops the list? Email marketing.

Email marketing is a cost-effective alternative to direct mail and advertising, with the benefit of results that can be easily tracked. However, if you plan to invest in e-marketing, your usual tactics need an update for best results. Whether you use email for newsletters, sales and promotion information, news items, event invitations, thank-you notes or purchase follow-up, 10 simple rules lay the groundwork for success:

1: Give Them What They Want
Check your web stats to find out where your customers are looking and what they are interested in. Do you have popular pages and topics or frequently asked questions that can guide your content? Are there new products and services that can be explained or promotions to announce?

2: Tailor the Fit
Email campaigns offer the enormous advantage of being able to quickly and easily group recipients. Identify customer profiles and group those with similar spending patterns, transaction sizes, geographical relevance and relationship with your business. Tailor emails to each core group so recipients will more likely take action.

3: Just the Facts
Keep it simple, and stick to the facts. Don’t send large attachments or long, complicated explanations. Readers respond best to short, simple messages and bulleted points. If you can’t be concise and deliver the relevant details of your message quickly, provide a link to a web page that offers more complete details.
read more »