By Mitchell Harper

As you may know, most people now spend more time reading their emails than they do surfing the web. Email is one of the most powerful mediums that you can use to talk to visitors, customers and prospects.

In this article I will discuss 15 best practices that you can use everyday in your email marketing activities. Used wisely and consistently, there’s no doubt you’ll see an increased response from your subscribers — whether it be for more feedback, more product/seminar registrations, or even more orders.

The majority of large Internet service providers now use rigorous spam protection mechanisms to trap unsolicited email before it gets into their customers inboxes. Spam filters generally “rank” each email by a number of different criteria, and, if that email rates above a certain level (such as 10 spam points), then it is flagged as spam and deleted.

To make sure your emails don’t get flagged as spam — and deleted before they even get to your subscribers — avoid using words such as ‘Free’, ‘$$$’, ‘Save’, ‘Discount’, etc in both the subject line and the content of your email.

Both web pages and emails can contain a lot of text and graphics, and this sometimes makes it harder to get your subscribers to perform a certain task, such as clicking on a link to see your special offers.

Numerous research papers tell us that the majority of Internet users respond better to a plain, bold, blue text link — such as this — as opposed to a banner or button. So, if you’re going to include links in your emails, make sure they are bold, blue and underlined. This will mean that more subscribers click through, meaning more conversions/sales for you.

If you were standing in a crowded mall, which of these would get your attention: “HEY, YOU!” or “HEY JOHN” (assuming your name is John). The power of personalization can and should be used in your emails. In-fact, by simply starting your email with “Hi [subscriber_name]” instead of the boring “Hi there”, you can increase both your reading and click-thru rates by up to 650%. Why? Put simply, it’s because your subscribers feel like they already have a relationship with you as you’ve addressed them by their first name.

If you want to grow your mailing list, then there are 2 things that you absolutely must have: a double opt-in process, and a quick way to unsubscribe. In some countries, it’s actually mandatory by law that every email has an unsubscribe link in it. The unsubscribe link should take the recipient directly to a page where they are then removed — courteously — from your mailing list.

Don’t get accused of spamming — always, and I mean always use a double opt-in confirmation process. Double opt-in means that after your visitor initially enters their email address to subscribe to your list, you should then send them a “confirmation” email. This email should contain a special link back to your email-marketing program, which will then verify that this visitor did indeed sign up to your mailing list.

Studies conducted by online research analysts have shown that the best days to perform a mail-out to your list are Tuesday and Wednesday, as this is when people are more receptive to communication. This means that they are more likely to read your content and click on links, meaning more sales.

On Mondays, everyone is still recovering from a hectic weekend. On Thursday and Friday, people are already too busy looking forward to the weekend. We’ve actually experimented with this, and received the best results by sending out emails at around 2-3pm (American Pacific Time) on a Wednesday.

An auto responder is an email that is scheduled to be sent at a certain time interval after someone subscribes to your mailing list. Auto responders are a great way to automatically follow up with your subscribers or provide them with more information on your products/services.

For example, if you provide a free newsletter, you could setup 3 auto responders for new subscribers: the first is sent 1 hour after they subscribe. It contains a thank you message and a link to get 10% off your newly released eBook.

The second is sent 24 hours after they subscribe, telling them about your community message boards, and the third is sent 72 hours after they subscribe, in which you can offer them a special deal on becoming a paid member of your site.

Auto responders help your subscribers build trust in both your company and your brand, and this can help make it easier when trying to close sales in the future.

If you’re running a newsletter or frequent email publication, make sure you keep the look and feel consistent from issue to issue. By keeping the look and feel consistent, you help to maintain and strengthen your brand and your image to your subscribers, which again will make it easier to close sales when you need to.

Create a template for your newsletter and whenever you need to create a new issue, use that template as the basis for each issue.

When sending a regular email to your subscribers, always make sure that it’s sent on the same day, at the same time. For example, every Wednesday at 3pm. Your subscribers will come to “expect” your email to arrive in their inbox on the same day at the same time every week, meaning that they want to read your content and are generally more receptive to any special offers or promotions you may include.

When your email arrives in your subscriber’s inbox, you generally have about half a second to catch their attention with the subject line of your email. After this, they will either delete your email or ignore it. In your subject line, try and specify a benefit that the subscriber can expect by reading your email. For example, instead of using ‘OurSite Newsletter Issue #1′, use ‘OurSite Newsletter: 10 Tips for Financial Freedom’.

Free is overused these days, especially on the Internet. However, if you’re looking to grow your subscriber list, then create or source a product of value to your visitors (such as an eBook or discount coupon) and offer it to them for free when they signup for your newsletter.

To make sure they don’t simply type any email address into your subscription form, setup an auto responder to send them the free bonus 1 hour after they subscribe to your newsletter.

Popular email clients such as MS Outlook show a preview of an email when it’s selected in your inbox. Always have some interesting content at the very top of your email, as this is the part that will show in the preview window of your subscribers email program. If it’s interesting enough, then your subscriber will open your email and continue on reading.

When creating marketing emails, try using different text for both content and links. Also try re-positioning images such as logos and buttons. After sending about 3 different emails, compare the click-thru stats and see which one worked best. Now, when you need to send marketing emails in the future, you know that you will be sending the right mix of content and images that will attract the most click-thrus, and ultimately the most sales.

Add value to your website, build trust in your visitors, establish your credibility and collect more subscriptions to your mailing list by setting up an email-based learning course. To do this, simply create a series of auto responders (for example, 5) containing unique content. Then, schedule the first one to be sent after 24 hours, the second after 48 hours, etc.

Always include a signature at the bottom of your emails, as it’s one of the easiest ways to attract more traffic to your website. This signature should include your personal details, your company details, and an unsubscribe link. You can use your signature to link back to your website, and even to other products. Here’s a sample signature:

Regards,
John Doe.
President – Company XYZ.
Visit our website at http://www.companyxyz.com
Unsubscribe from this newsletter at http://www.companyxyz.com/unsubscribe…

By implementing the 15 best practices described in this article, you can take your email marketing to a whole new level –- attracting more subscribers, and building both your brand equity and credibility at the same time.

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You can’t take random ingredients and expect to bake great Lasagna. You need specific ingredients and instructions. If you’re buying email lists with unqualified prospects, it can turn out to be a recipe for disaster.

Building vs. Purchasing Email Lists

As a marketer you need to think like a consumer.  Consumers are smart, and they know what they want. If they receive an email from an unknown source, they will usually ignore it or delete it.  If, however, the email comes from a trusted company, they are much more likely to take a look.

By using purchased lists, you’re exposing your business to problems. False or out-of-date email addresses. Spam complaints.  All of which will eventually lead to a list that is a waste of your marketing dollars.

When you build a list, there are benefits that come with your subscriber base. You have the opportunity to track your emails (who received them, who opened them, etc). You can separate your list and segment it to those who want to receive certain emails or specific information. But more than anything else, you have a list of people who want to read your emails. Those can refer their friends to your business and help it grow through word of mouth.

Whether you create an email list from scratch or build an existing email list, you’re getting qualified leads of customers who are sincerely interested in what you have to offer them—otherwise they wouldn’t have signed up. You want to use that to your advantage—and you can, with targeted email marketing

Building an Effective Email List to Succeed in the e-World

Businesses can use email marketing effectively to develop strong leads, build relationships, and inexpensively get their message out.

Whenever customers are strolling through, browsing, purchasing, or just gathering information, you can be collecting email addresses. Your business is always open, readily available, and you can begin to build your email list by following a few simple suggestions.

Assure Personal Privacy

Consumers are very hesitant to give out personal information and email addresses have become a part of people, some don’t want to share. Gain their trust by reassuring them that their email address and any personal information will be guarded by you. Let them know that they will only receive a certain number of emails per month.

Keep it Simple

The easier it is to do something, the more likely it is someone will do it. If signing up for your email list is as easy as typing or writing their address—you will see many more addresses signing up.

Deliver on Your Content Promises

Make promises on what they should expect to receive in their emails from you and deliver (literally and figuratively). By letting the recipients know what they will be getting in their emails from you for signing up they will want to open the emails—to see what you have to offer.

Offer Choices

Democracy is a beautiful thing. Giving your subscribers choices of what they wish to receive from you gives you the control to cater to your customers. This also gives them satisfaction of not having to sift through irrelevant material.

9 Ways to Collect Email Addresses

Your website – If nothing else, use your website. If you’re not promoting your email list on your website, you’re not using your website well enough.

Current email lists – Using current email lists to build your own email list is an essential part of your growth. If your current recipients see something of value to them, they may think their friends will benefit as well. Allowing them to pass your email along may easily add more to your list.

In-store sign-up – When checking out or browsing around allow people to sign up for your email list by way of sign up forms.

Contests - Register participants address and announce the winner through your next newsletter list.

Coupons & discounts – Offer special incentives through email only, allow them to pass along to friends.

Advertisements & Direct mail – Never pass up the opportunity to inform readers about your email community. Direct them to your website or have them send an email to you requesting their addition.

Business cards – On the back of your business card, promote your website and the opportunity to receive informative emails or newsletters.

Trade shows & Networking Events – Offer collateral material that requests them to sign-up on their own.

Seminars - Give seminars on your area of expertise and have people sign-up to your mailing list for future seminars, discounted rates, and other announcements.

Be creative with these ideas, mix and match, or come up with your own ways to collect emails.

Maintaining your list

Just as important as building an email marketing list is maintaining your current list.
A few things to remember when doing this are to:

Build relationships with your customers—they will stay your customers longer if they feel connected. Ask for feedback and respond immediately. If they know that you care about them, they’ll stick around, as with any relationship.

Offer real value to your email readers; make them want to open your email each and every time. Whether this value is in the form of discounts, product information, tips, or fun stories, they should feel a need to read what you have to say.

Keep your emails interesting and your e-marketing will thrive. Send out only as many emails a month as you can keep appealing. Put some thought into what you want to communicate and you will have more valuable information.

Don’t hassle the loyal customers that have offered to receive your emails. If you don’t constantly bombard them, they’ll appreciate you more. You are privileged to have them on your list and you can respect that by not abusing it.

Go Build Your Empire!

First, realize that you need to build a list, not purchase one. Planning is essential in building your subscriber numbers. After you decide your objectives, use the previous suggestions to grow your list. Maintaining your subscriber base may be the most important thing you can do. What’s the point of creating something just to let it fall apart?

The Colosseum still stands in Rome after 2000 years. It was constructed well, and even with some deterioration there has been a constant effort to preserve.

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