Seven habits for successful Email Marketing revealed

A recent report from analyst firm Forrester is predicting that by 2014 companies will spend over $1.2 billion on email marketing in the US alone – an 11% compound annual growth rate.

Yet it also predicts that much of this spend will be wasted as messages are targeted inappropriately or not at all.

In response to this, email marketing service provider have published seven habits for successful email marketing.

1. Just be Relevant.
Send emails that customers really want geared towards their self-reported interests and demographic profile. Leverage available data to ensure that customers are receiving information that most resonates with them.

2. Manage Email Frequency Carefully.
Over-mailing your email subscribers can turn even the most engaged recipient off. Always test to determine the right frequency for your brand.

3. Test Your Offers.
Test the water by sending a new email offer to a random subset of your recipients to determine response and relevance. Assess the offer response, adjust as necessary and then share it with the remainder of your subscriber-base.

4. Use Graphics Wisely.
Images should complement your message content, not detract from it. Make sure your use of graphics supports everything from your brand through your call-to-action effectively. Remember that a large image can push content below the fold, while excessive images can slow message loading.

5. Embrace Personalisation Within the Email Template.
Always look to make your messages more relevant by adding personalized, dynamic content.  If you don't know where to begin, you can start with basic mail merge fields like "first name" and move toward personalised content based on past purchases, subscriptions and other unique data to build a deeper relationship with the customer.

6. Develop a Flexible Response Strategy.
Many companies are guilty of delivering large volumes of highly relevant content quickly and then failing to deal with the responses effectively. Anticipate demand and plan accordingly.

7. Pay Attention to Data Management.
Many email marketers struggle with the issue of data management and can become overwhelmed with volumes. Therefore it’s vital to maintain flexible and dynamic customer databases that include useful details on every customer.