Better E-Marketing: 10 Tips
 By Stephen A. Lanvil

In just 10 short years or so, e-mail has become the most ubiquitous communication tool of this generation. But with this e-mail explosion has come a backlash, as most professionals today are overloaded with too many messages.

Today, you need an understanding of the nuances of this unique communication medium if you want to experience success. Here are 10 tips to help you launch and maintain a successful e-marketing campaign.

1. Offer valuable content
The first rule of e-marketing is that “Content is King.” So use your e-newsletter to send readers valuable information about your industry. The information should inform them and help them do their jobs better. It should also help position you as an expert in your field.

2. Don’t make it all about you
Similarly, the quickest way to turn your readers off and have them either ignore your e-mails or unsubscribe is to tell them all about how great your company is and your products/services are. From their perspective, it’s all about them, not you.

3. Build relationships
The greatest strength of e-mail is the potential it gives you to build long-term relationships with customers and prospects. So don’t use it to try to sell them something, at least not right away. Use it as a relationship-building tool instead. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to sell after you’ve first earned their trust and established yourself as an industry expert.

4. Keep it short
Most businesses operate under the premise that more is better when it comes to their e-newsletter, so they jam each issue full of articles, ads, product pitches, etc. However, the opposite is true: People want to get into their e-mails quickly and then get out. Each e-newsletter you send should consist of just one article of between 600 and 800 words, followed by a brief description of your company and/or products and services and your contact information.

5. Build your own e-mail list
You’ve probably seen plenty of ads offering to sell you thousands of e-mail addresses, but be wary. The best e-mail list is the one you build yourself. It may start out small, but your goal should be to build it over time by offering valuable content that readers pass on to others who will also sign up.

6. Target your audience narrowly
With e-newsletters, you simply can’t be all things to all people. The quality of your readership is more important than the quantity, so try to speak to as narrow a slice of the market as possible. To break through the e-mail clutter, your content must be unique and specific enough to grab a reader’s attention.

7. Publish regularly and with adequate frequency
Not publishing regularly or with enough frequency is one of the biggest obstacles to e-marketing success. Decide how often you’ll publish (at least monthly should be the goal), choose a day of the week or month to publish, and then stick to it.

8. Maintain a consistent voice
You want your readers to become familiar with the voice of your e-newsletter. So don’t let Sally in sales write it one month and then Sam in shipping the next. The tone and style should stay the same every issue.

9. Hire a professional designer
It’s easy to modify the template provided by an e-newsletter vendor, but for as little as $600, you can have a professionally designed e-newsletter that stands head and shoulders above the dozens of other amateurish ones landing in your readers’ inboxes.

10. Use an e-mail vendor for delivery
It’s foolish to try to manage all the details of e-mail delivery, spam compliance, opt-ins, opt-outs, and tracking yourself. All of those mechanics can be professionally handled for as little as $25 a month (for up to 1,000 addresses). Check out Constant Contact, VerticalResponse and Cooler Email.

(Posted October 2008)

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