Email Marketing engages with people in a personal space - their inbox. Regularly providing your customers with valuable information can be an exceptionally powerful way to build a relationship, but only if you do it well. If you’re an Email Marketing expert, stop reading, but if you’re interested in learning a bit about the basics, this list will be a valuable read.

Never send unsolicited mail

Rather build a database of subscribers who actually want to hear from you. Not only will this lead to happier readers, but will also ensure that your money is well spent, because you know your mail will be received and read, and should lead to a sale or lead.

Consider a double subscription process
When someone signs up on your site, an email is sent to them in which they can confirm that they did in fact subscribe. This will ensure that you reach people who want to be reached.

On that note, include an unsubscribe link
Not only is this required by law, but it will ensure that you send mails to people who want them. It is possible for someone to change their mind about a subscription, and giving them the option to opt out will ensure that you keep sending your mail to a receptive audience.

Design for preview panes
Most people will read an email in their preview panes and not open up a window to view the full email, so make sure that your email and the critical information on it displays properly here.

The Email:

Consider your subject line
Your subject line should grab your reader’s attention, but has to be an honest representation of what’s in the email. Misleading will equate you with spam, so be to the point.

Use a personalised greeting
Any good mailing system should allow you to include someone’s name, surname and title in every mail you send. Personalising the mail will always make a difference to the person reading it, and will contribute to the relationship you’re trying to build.

Personalise the email content
When a reader subscribes to your newsletter it could be hugely valuable to get a bit more information from them about what they’re interested in. With this information you can customise your emails for each recipient, in order to including and position information on the email in terms of their specific interests. For the Quirk newsletter for example, if I indicate that my interest is in viral videos, the newsletter can be put together in such a way that the viral videos are always included and central to the page.

The header
Design the header so that it’s consistent with your brands look and feel, but keep it simple enough that it doesn’t make the download time longer. The header should also link to your company website.

The body
The body of the email can be set up in either single or double columns. Generally a double column is only a good idea if you have additional information you want to tell your readers about – and the main column should hold the body of your information.

Images
Images can add a lot to the look and feel of your mailer, but a few email programs block them, so make sure that you don’t include critical information in the image.

The footer
This is where the default and generic links should be found. Unsubscribe, send to a friend, contact link and link to website can all be placed here.

Test and Track:

Test for various email clients
Outlook and Thunderbird can display your email in different ways, only testing in one can result in your email getting mangled.

Track and measure your campaigns
Email campaigns can be tracked down to the finest detail – how many people did or did not open their mails and how many got bounced are all numbers you can check in real time if you’re using a good mailer system. Armed with this information you can make sure you’re sending to the right people and check up on your campaign.

Sending an email is personal communication - if you keep that in mind and pay attention to the details in your campaign you should come out with a valuable list of people who appreciate your brand.