Posted by Fione Tan, head internet marketing coach

As i download the emails to my inbox each day, i find more and more spam emails (unsolicited commercial email messages) and without even opening those emails, my email anti-spam software has automatically blocked them and sent them to the spam mail box.

Would there have been genuine opt-in email campaigns in the list of emails that i have just deleted? Definitely! So, how can a genuine email newsletter reach the inbox of their readers and get read? Is it the email marketing software, email marketing list, or the email marketing offer?  

If you intend to use email marketing to reach your prospects and customers, then here are some tips to guarantee that you will increase your email campaign results.

1. Where is the email database derived from?

- you need to know whom you are sending the emails to? Do not send spam.

- in-house leads such as your website members are normally more receptive than third party rented email database

- what is the profile of the recipients versus your target market. If you are promoting a pet shampoo so you should send to pet owners and not just everyone

2. The Email Design

- are you sending just a text email message or a HTML email ? HTML emails means that the images are directly displayed on the recipients email inbox. If you are sending them a text email message, you can always quote where is the online version located so that the user can browse this email template online

- avoid sending attachments in the email and also ensure that the file size that you are sending to them is small so that it can downloaded fast

3. The Email Offer

- what is the offer that you have sent to the prospects? Is it a good offer or an irresistible one? Is there a free bonus / gift that they can redeem or specially priced item if they quote the promotion code found in your email offer?

- add a deadline or validity period in that message so that readers know they should act fast

4. Tell Customers What to do Next?

- offer email recipients more than 1 way to contact you eg they can call your office telephone or directly print that voucher to purchase in your store

- rather than send a simple announcement of your promotion eg We are having designer handbags sale on up to 70%!. You can add the instructions as ”If you want to get your hands on Italian designer brands of handbags, including limited editions, with savings of up to US$1,200, then you need to click on the link below and purchase the bag online immediately. Only 5 pieces of each item are available, so you can buy with your credit card at http://www.eOneNet.com/e_mall.htm today!

5. Test your Email Offer

- you will not know for sure which design or offer is going to yield you the highest results. The idea is to test. For instance, if your database is with 10,000 email lists, you can break Database A as 1,000 and Database B as another 1,000. Send email version 1 to Database A and then email version 2 to Database B.

- study the results, and then you can send the better performing email version to the balance database.

In one of our  email marketing campaigns, we tracked a 400% increment in response when we measured 2 different offers being tested. If we had not tested, we would not have made such good online sales from the campaign.

Let’s start to use email marketing to increase your Internet Sales ! In the coming newsletters, we will review different email marketing softwares that you can use to send out your million dollar emails.