In today’s world social media seems to dominate most discussions related to online marketing. However, one of the most successful, cost effective methods that should not be overlooked is still email. Don’t loose track of opportunities to leverage email - it’s a winner when it’s done right. Here is a list of the top 10 tips to help guide you.

In advertising and marketing, the more relevant you can be the better. Basic tenets of effective communication tell us that if we speak directly to our audience’s pre-conceived wants and needs, they will respond favorably. Digital media allows for relevant communications to be delivered on a whole new level, email especially.

Email marketing has evolved from the old days of mass blasting to a database of unknown users, at least for legitimate email marketers. Today, consider spammers the purveyors of cheap beer and legitimate, sophisticated email marketers the makers of fine wine. Using this analogy, you have to ask yourself; do you supply your customers with cheap beer, fine wine or somewhere in between? In other words, where do you reside in the email sophistication spectrum?

Email has matured as a valuable marketing channel for many businesses. In the old days, utilizing a “batch and blast” method from your Microsoft Outlook program was standard operating procedure. Then spam became a problem and ISPs, consumers and even the government fought back against spammers abusing the email channel. Today, serious marketers utilize a third party email service provider to execute their email campaigns. This enables legitimate marketers to execute email campaigns in a sophisticated manner. Let’s examine trends in the world of email and how the landscape is changing.