5 Tips for Better Email Marketing

Eric Brantner
SEO Content Writer

When most people hear the term email marketing, they associate it with spam. While I’ve certainly waded through my fair share of spam emails, true email marketing is anything but spam. In fact, with the CAN-SPAM Act real email marketers are taking additional steps to ensure they’re not spamming anyone.

If done properly, email marketing can be a great way to generate leads, drive targeted traffic to your site, and close sales. If you’re thinking of starting an email marketing campaign, follow these 5 tips.

1. Don’t Spam- The most obvious step is to make sure you aren’t a spammer. Not only can this get you in trouble by breaking the law, but it also ruins your business’ reputation. Only send email marketing messages to addresses given to you with permission. It’s really quite simple to get permission to email someone. Simply offer an incentive (newsletter, free whitepaper, discount, etc.) for someone to complete a contact form on your website. Once they complete the form, you now have permission to include them in your email marketing campaign.

2. Keep Messages Focused- Remember, online readers tend to have a short attention span. For this reason, it’s important to keep your email marketing messages short and to the point. I recommend focusing on just one main topic in your message. This will help the reader get the main points quickly and effectively while keeping them engaged.

3. Create Great Landing Pages- If your email marketing campaign is designed to get visitors to a specific landing page, make sure that page is tailored to their needs. You should avoid unnecessary distractions on the page, making sure the only content is related to what they just read in their email. Read these tips for getting the most out of your landing pages.

4. Allow Readers to Leave- Although you acquired their email addresses legitimately, you can’t force readers to stay subscribed to your email marketing messages. Every message should include a way for readers to opt out at the end. Again, this prevents you from becoming a spammer; it helps you maintain a positive image; and it keeps your email marketing list highly targeted for improved conversion rates.

5. Track Your Campaign- The most important step to becoming successful with email marketing is to track all of your campaigns. By creating specific landing pages for your email marketing messages, you can track how many people came to the page, how long they stayed, and what your conversion rate is. Tracking this information will help you revise your strategy until you reach the level of success you desire.