How to Create a Superb Email Campaign

Have you ever wondered how you can create a superb email campaign?  It's not as easy as just sending an email blast out to all your contacts every other day and hope for the best.  Today's customers are much more savvy than in the past and need to be treated as such.  With that in mind, here are just a few ways you can create a superb email campaign to capture leads and keep them coming back:

1. Allow the Reader a Choice - Don't use sly "tricks" to try to capture leads, like automatically checking a box on the registration forms on your site.  If someone is filling out a form and doesn't see that this box has been checked, the emails you send them might be considered an invasion of their privacy, turning them off of using your services.  When a subscriber reaches the 12 month mark, send them a quick email to ask if they wish to continue receiving your emails as a courtesy.
2. High Email Volume = SPAM - An ISP sees a high amount of email as possible SPAM and can penalize you for such by marking them as possible SPAM to the recipient or even blocking your email from being sent altogether.  To avoid looking like SPAM, make sure any "unsubscribe" requests are followed within the 10-day window required by law, monitor any SPAM complaints you may receive and resolve them, use a unique IP address when possible and create a double-opt process for your forms (after someone clicks on the submit button, have a pop-up window ask them to confirm that this is what they really wanted to do).
3. Keep Mailing Lists Up-to-Date - They say that "cleanliness is next to godliness".  The same is true for mailing lists.  A "dirty list" is one that has several bad, duplicate or out-of-date email addresses on it.  Go through your list at least every few months to clean up your list.  If you send a monthly newsletter, some services will send you a list of emails that were bounced back.  You can use this list to clean up your address book.  This will keep your email campaigns running efficiently.
4. It's the Quality, Not the Quantity - It doesn't matter if you have 1,000 names or 100 names on your email list.  If the contacts aren't of any quality, those 1,000 names don't mean much.  Focus on who your core demographic is and add those people to your contact list.
5. Respect a Reader's Privacy - Make sure to include a privacy statement with your opt-in form.  It doesn't have to be elaborate.  But, a few words can go a long way in reassuring someone that their information will not be shared or sold to anyone, creating a sense of security. 
6. Format the Email for the Recipients Inbox - If the reader can't find the information they want quickly, they will delete.  So, make sure that you put your company name in the "from" line so the reader can easily recognize it, create a quick subject line that grabs the reader's attention and gives a quick description of what the email is about in no more than 50 characters, use text and html colors/layout instead of lots of images in the email in case the images are disabled and put all important things at the top of the email instead of at the bottom (such as a call to action or newsletter contents).
7. Use Yourself as a Test Subject - Always make sure to send yourself a test email before you send out the entire campaign.  This will allow you to fix any errors that may arise.

These are only a few tips on how to create a superb email campaign.  There are several more.  If you have any questions about your email campaign, please contact me.