All the eMail Marketing Secrets and Strategies You Need to Know

Many of the world's biggest and most successful companies make use of internet marketing. Take Google for instance, it sends regular email newsletters to its AdWords or AdSense users. Twitter for all its popularity still sends email updates to the people on its network. Therefore, email marketing is one of the most important forms of internet marketing. For small businesses email marketing is even more important. It is an indispensable tool for small business owners since it is cheap, fast and simple to use. It has a global reach and generates a fast response from your audience.

However, email marketing needs to done properly to prevent a customer backlash. The following tips should help you create an optimal and successful marketing campaign.

How to Build the Right Audience for Your Internet Marketing Campaign

Get permission: Allow the customer to opt-in or out. People who choose to receive your emails will respond favorably to them.

Improve the odds that a person will join your list: Ask for very little information upfront. For example, simply ask for a name, sex and an email address. You can always ask for more information later. Make personal data optional. Get the customer's trust. Tell them what you will do with the information they provide.

Segment your audience: Do not use one generic email for everyone. Be as personal or as one-on-one as possible. Especially try to get the gender right.

Concentrate your efforts: Find out more about your most valuable customers. Write to them specifically.

Do not spam: Never forget this.

How to Create the Right Content for Your Emails

Create original content: Your emails should contain relevant and fresh content.

Email headlines are important: Your email headlines should be catchy. However, they should not read like ads. Many customers are put off by the fact that you are trying to sell something to them before you are even through the door.

Make the content of your emails simple: Do not try to sell all your products or services in one email. Create different emails for different topics and send them differently. Focus on the message in the email.

Speak to the audience in their language: Consider age and gender and other such factors when creating the content for your emails.

Create emails that load easily: They say time is money. Consider the customer's time and yours too. You will lose business and money if your emails take too long to load. Choose between text and HTML-based messages. You could try to create a balance between the two or ask customers to choose which one they want to see.

Create links to your website or pages within your emails: Forgetting to do this is akin to dining at a restaurant and not bringing your wallet along. Tell the customer where to click.

Customize your emails to reflect your business: Doing this gives you a professional look and tells your subscribers that you are a serious and credible business.

Deliver value to the customer: Make emails as informative and helpful as possible.

How to Develop the Best Strategy for Your Campaign

Track and report your campaign: Always monitor your email marketing campaign to find out how effective it is. Find out what works and stick to it. Drop anything that does not work.

Always look for better forms of email marketing: Test your strategy and if it works, use it until you find something better. Remember to always try to improve your strategy.

Make use of Social Media: Link social networking and email marketing. Invite your subscribers to join you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Leverage the influence of these social networks to add more people to your list.

Freebies: Offer free stuff such as sweepstakes, free trials, product samples and bonuses.

Timing: Many experts advise that Mondays and Fridays are non-ideal days for email marketing because of the workload and the anticipation of the weekend respectively. No one likes to be bothered during the weekends either. The best days are therefore, Tuesdays through Thursdays.

Get your emails white-listed: Ask your subscribers to add your email address to their list of contacts. This will prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

Use different forms of emails: Prevent your marketing campaign from becoming boring or repetitive. You could vary your emails among periodic newsletters, press releases, catalogs/brochures or reminders.

Go viral: Encourage your subscribers to share your emails. Make your campaign interactive.