With everyone\’s focus seemingly on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter you may be surprised to learn that good old email marketing is still one of the most popular forms of online marketing in use today. The targeted nature of this type of campaign is highly effective and those who enjoy success with it do so because they have planned them well in advance of the launch. Failing to plan is planning to fail so how do you go about organising an email marketing campaign?

The first bite is with the eye so with that in mind you should place a great deal of importance on the appearance of your email newsletter. It is a common misconception that delivering an email full of flashy content and large graphics will make for an engaging and informative newsletter. If anything, these types of emails are likely to get blocked by your recipients email filters. Try to focus instead on a more simple format that places more emphasis on quality content. If you are looking to make your email more visually appealing then do so with appropriate use of styled fonts and a sensible layout.

Don\’t write content just for the sake of writing content. Your email newsletter is a valuable opportunity to persuade a captive audience so make sure that it grabs their attention. Research shows that the average email reader will never thoroughly read an email. It is estimated that at best an email is likely to be read for around 10 seconds. This is an extremely short space of time in which to capture the reader\’s attention. Try not to write more content than is absolutely necessary – keep your pitch as concise as possible. The last thing you want to do is encourage a response of \’too long, didn\’t read\’ from your customer.

One of the most useful aspects of email marketing is that you have the ability to experiment with different methods of presenting your marketing emails. Record which designs are the most effective and generate the best response. If you are looking for inspiration then it may be a good idea to subscribe to as many competitors\’ email lists from your sector.

Whilst deciding on the best marketing strategy to use, it is important that you employ a great deal of common sense. While a competitors\’ email may look attractive and persuasive, it may not work that well for you. You experience and knowledge of the market sector will play a big part in how you decide to present yourself.

The use of email marketing software will be an essential part of your campaign as it will help you to analyse the response to your email newsletters. You will be able to tell who is reading your newsletters and whether they are engaging with what you have to present. You will even have the ability to sub-divide your mailing list into separate demographics so that you can target your customer base in a more personal way.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), a leading UK email marketing company.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (http://www.extravision.com), a leading UK email marketing company.

Author Bio: Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), a leading UK email marketing company.

Category: Marketing
Keywords: email marketing, email campaign, ecommerce, internet marketing, e-commerce, sales, business