Blog entry by Bradley Pease

Anyone in the world

Email only the people on your list. Mailing messages to individuals with whom you are unacquainted will make you look like a spammer. They'll be wondering if they know of you from somewhere and whether they care about what you're attempting to sell to them. They may just delete your message; what a waste of time!

Try not to send out important emails on or around any major holidays. Because people are not checking email as frequently around these times, your email is more likely to be ignored. Of course, you can take advantage of certain exceptions. These could include Black Friday emails or emails related to other specific events.

IMG_1121.69110004_std.jpgGenerally speaking, it is not a good idea to send out important marketing email messages during major holidays. Many people don't access their emails on those days, and you risk them being overlooked among the others that arrived during that same time. Keep in mind that there could be exceptions to this. Such exceptions may include emails with Black Friday promotions or other messages that are centered around a specific holiday.

Perform in a consistent manner. Be consistent in your emails, using the same colors, and always including the company logo. See to it that the font you're using is readable. Once you have sent a few emails, your recipients will be able to immediately recognize them, and will start to take notice. Familiarity cannot be underestimated when developing a business strategy.

Each message needs on clear message. Keep the content down to a digestible amount of material. Throwing too much at a customer will overwhelm them. Only send one message and make it short within reason, easily getting to the point. Audiences are sure to appreciate your willingness to limit the message to just the most relevant material.

People should be able to opt out from your mailing list Building easily. There is a cost to sending email, even if it is small. Also, the ill will caused by a perception that you are a spammer will hurt your business and potentially prompt online blacklisting of your enterprise.

Limit your marketing email messages to only one each week. Remember that your subscribers are busy, and that they probably receive a lot of email each day. Sending more than one a week may make them skip or delete your messages without regarding your work.

Your color scheme should be consistent and should reflect your brand. If your colors are all over the board, you will appear amateurish and your efforts may not achieve the results that you desire. You can look on sites like COLOURlovers if you need some good ideas to get you going.

It's an excellent idea to have a link where customers can unsubscribe from your email listing. Make it easy to find so that people feel comfortable about receiving your emails. It is important that your customers feel in control and that they aren't being forced into anything.

Keep your content current and variable; do not just repeatedly send out the same five messages repeatedly. If you want to keep people's attention, there needs to be something fresh, or their attention will go elsewhere. If they wanted round the clock commercials, they would just stay at home watching home shopping channels. Even if some of them do that, give them something different when they check their inbox.

In order to better target your e-mail marketing campaign, you can allow people to select particular categories of e-mails that they wish to receive. This will ensure that the e-mails that you send contain information that they are interested in. It also reduces the chance of people unsubscribing due to receiving too many e-mails that they are not interested in.

Customize your messages in any personal manner that is available to you, so you can send messages to subscribers that let them feel like people. Form letters will only earn you deleted messages and blocked addresses by your subscribers. Including their first name in emails is simple, but you can get even more personal. The information you collect at the time of signup should include the location from which they signed up, as well as the reason they signed up. This kind of information can be folded into your email.

If you plan on starting a marketing campaign via email, it is vital that you get permission from every single person you plan on contacting. If you don't have permission, be prepared to not only receive spam complaints but also to lose customers.

Don't forget to include an effective call to action at the end of each email. This will allow your recipients to know what actions are expected of them once they read your email. Make sure that any links you have are obvious and let it be known how to use them. Consider including your call to action at both the bottom and top of your email for ease of use.

Before you send out emails, make sure to proofread them. You have to make sure all your newsletters and emails are letter perfect. Before sending out your email, test the layout in a few different email clients to be sure it can be read the way you would like it to be read. Ensure that every link is working, as well.