Email marketing can be a great way of keeping clients informed about your organisation and creating new business and marketing opportunities. Setting up an email marketing list is straightforward, but it pays to spend time managing your mailing list in order to get better results.

Store your data:

One of the first things to decide is how to store your data. It is possible simply to keep a record of all your clients email addresses in a spreadsheet or document however, there is software available that can make storing data easier. There are also companies offering email marketing services that can help store data and manage it for you. Using a dedicated email marketing tool or company will save you time and increase your professionalism.

Keep up to date with subscriptions:

One of the most important things you need to do is keep your list up to date. If a client asks to unsubscribe from your mailing list then make sure you take action. If you keep sending emails to people who do not want them, you risk alienating customers and losing business. You also risk receiving complaints about spamming which, in the worst-case scenario, could see your website shut down. You should also keep up to date with new subscribers. When people ask to join your mailing list, add them as soon as possible and get information to them before they lose interest.

Target your audience:

Many email marketing list companies allow you to segment your lists in order to target certain groups. You can also do this manually although it may take longer. Dividing your lists along different lines can help you to target mail to certain groups within your client base. You should also keep an eye out for email addresses that might belong to you competitors. You can use lists to exclude these email addresses from certain mail-outs if you do not want your competitors to know what you are doing.

Keep your list clean:

There is no point in sending out emails to addresses that are not actually receiving them. Emails bounce back for a number of reasons. Firstly, the email address may no longer exist, in which case there is no client to reach. You can usually tell if the email address is inactive by the message you get when the email is returned. Secondly, there may have been some kind of error when the client submitted their email address. Sometimes you can rectify this, if it seems to be a simple error. For example, they may have written con instead of com at the end of the address, in which case you may be able to guess the correct address. However, in other cases you will have to write these addresses off as a lost cause. Emails may also bounce back because the recipient’s inbox is full or there are server problems in which case it is worth trying to send the email again.

These tips will help you manage your email marketing list and get the best results for your business.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s leading email marketing companies.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (http://www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s leading email marketing companies.

Author Bio: Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s leading email marketing companies.

Category: Advice
Keywords: email marketing, email campaign, ecommerce, internet marketing, e-commerce, sales, business, b2b