I call it the Morning Inbox Crawl –wake up, make your coffee and log into Outlook to find a whopping 67+ emails over night. As a business owner and consumer – I’m okay with this and frankly just used to it. I guess it’s the anticipation of “what am I going to get today” that gets me through the task. Will there be coupons, local news, event reminders, tips on building my business, maybe a note from a friend back home? I personally like all of those kinds of emails. In fact, I LOVE them because they are relevant to me.

It is wading through the other (and pardon my French) crap emails that takes the fun out of the morning inbox crawl. What I’m getting at is that email marketing for business can still be effective when used correctly.

Now this may seem a bit “old school,” especially considering that email has been around since (and believe it or not) the 1960’s, but people STILL read emails and they  STILL join email lists. You know why? Because the business/person drafting and sending those emails understands and implements the FIVE fundamentals of a successful email campaign:

1. A clever subject line that grabs attention with being too “salesy.” i.ee – “BUY NOW AND SAVE A TON!” this is clearly TOO salesy, too broad and it is in all caps – this may not even make it past the spam filters. Alternatively, “Save 20% on all items for one week only,” is to the point. It keeps the central point (discount and deadline) but is specific on what’s inside.
2. Delivering content that people actually want – limit the fluff. If you wouldn’t find it interesting, save yourself the time and money.
3. Building a non-spam-sourced database/list. Your subscribers should know exactly what they are signing up for. DON’T BUY A LIST…spammer.
4. Maintain, update and segment your lists. Cleaning out and keeping your lists organized will keep your open-rates consistent and keep your subscribers happy.
5. Analyze your emails’ performance. How will you ever increase your open rates if you don’t revisit the stats and see what people are or are not into? In most cases, you’re paying to deliver those emails. For every unopened email, you’re losing money.

Email campaigns are another media to keep you top of mind over the competition, and they’re share-able!  Too, here are some good stats on what open-rates to expect for your industry – thanks to MailChimp.

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