What is so powerful about email marketing¹? Opt in. That's right. Opt in. Opt in email makes for laser like precision narrowcasting. Your prospects opt in to your email because they are interested in what you have to offer. Therefore you are marketing to prospects and not to broadcasting¹ to everyone in Florida.

Everyone in your email list is interested in what you have to offer

Here are tips to make your email campaigns more effective.

1. Write about what your prospects are interested in. Your piece should answer the following questions from your recipients: what's in this for me? How does this help me?
2. Study your quantitative data. How do you know what your customers are interested in? What search terms idi they enter into the search engines that bring them to your site. What search terms idi they enter on your site when they searched your site. In past newsletters what topics got them opening and reading and clicking?  What pages are visitors reading on your website?
3. Make sure there is an absolutely clear, attractive, simple-to-use opportunity for action. That means more than a "click here" link. I suggest a block in the sidebar that sweetens the deal: "Order now and receive free shipping." or "Order now and take 20% off." or "Sign up now and bring a friend for free."
4. Spend a lot of time making good headlines. That is probably your first and only opportunity to get them to click through. You can develop a flair for this and you'll do it  a lot quicker if you teach yourself to use an active verb in every headline. Instead of "Low Chocolate Prices" try "Chocolate prices hit record lows."
5. Use images. It's best to use your own, but if you have none, try flickr or picasa. Always attribute photos to photographers.
6. If you use URLs in your newsletter, use friendly URLs. Use www.mysite.com/ipod-deals rather than www.mysite.com/parts#no2/q=ipod_deal. Better yet, use anchor text¹, or the alt= attribute inside the <a href> tag.
7. Link out to other pages on your site.

Photo by pigpogm