Tips for Better E-mail Marketing Through Mailing Lists

Despite the onslaught of unwelcome e-mail spam that our inboxes are bombarded with every day, reading e-mail is still one of the main activities the average American lists when asked how they spend their time at the computer. With the latest technological advances that allow people to receive e-mail on their cell phones and PDAs, e-mail marketing has suddenly become far more viable now than in the past. When done correctly, businesses that utilize e-mail marketing can see a higher ROI (return on investment) than traditional methods like direct mail and newsletters. However, while spam didn't destroy the e-mail experience, it does create issues that need to be addressed before creating your digital marketing material. Here are some guidelines to follow after you've decided to try e-mail marketing.

First, be personal. Use your target audience's name in the subject heading when possible (there is software available that enables you to do this.) This will both get the reader's attention and show them you aren't just randomly sending out e-mails to a mass mailing list. You also make the e-mail appear more genuine and safe to open, since the reader will be more likely to view e-mail with their name in the subject as something they actually want to look at.

An often overlooked but important step is to avoid duplicate addresses in your mailing list. Sometimes people will sign up for your mailing list twice, forgetting they've already done so. If they start getting two of the same e-mails every month (or even every week) they may get fed up and opt out of your list or even block your e-mail address, leaving you with one fewer customer.

Along the same lines, go through your list to find any bouncing e-mail addresses (addresses you've sent e-mail to and it returns to you undelivered.) Some bounces are temporary, possibly a glitch in the system, while others are the remains of a forgotten or abandoned e-mail address, so it's important to determine which is which. Bounces are divided into two categories: hard and soft. Soft bounces occur when the recipient's inbox is full or the Internet Service Provider is otherwise busy/malfunctioning. These types of bounces usually mean you can try e-mailing that address successfully at a later time. Hard bounces are more permanent - either the recipient typed their name in wrong or the address was deleted, for whatever reason. The latter of these bounces you may as well delete, since the resulting "cannot reach " messages will only clutter up your in-box, but try e-mailing the soft bounces 24 to 48 hours later to see if the technical difficulty is fixed.

Don't forget to keep an eye on your requests to subscribe and unsubscribe. Use an automated system, or if you prefer to do it yourself, check the requests right before you send out another mailing. If someone no longer wants to be on your list, make sure you honor the request: it's a common courtesy to your reader and if the tables were turned you would expect the same. you could also get in trouble with your service provider and/or the law if you send out unwanted e-mail again and again. On the flip side of the issue, don't forget to honor the requests of people who do want your material. The sooner you add them to your list the sooner they can start receiving your mailings, and the closer you are to a possible sale.

Finally, to reach a larger number of your customers, consider splitting the list and targeting e-mails to each section. The more content there is that's of particular interest to your reader, the more likely they are to thoroughly go over it and remember who sent it. You can split the list according to age, gender, shopping habits, hobbies, whatever you know about them - targeted e-mailings go much further than a broad-spectrum mass mailing and is more likely to get the response you want from your list readers.

When done properly, e-mail marketing can be an effective tool for your company, and these tips should help ensure that your mailing will at least get read - which, as every marketer knows, is half the battle.