5 Tips for Smart Email Marketing

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Email marketing offers a cost-effective way for small businesses to communicate with customers and prospects.

Here are five tips that will help you get the most out of your email marketing efforts:

Be Clear About Content and Frequency

At the time of sign-up, let subscribers know the types of content you’ll be providing via email and how often they should expect to hear from you. Being clear upfront will help you to build an interested and engaged mailing list and minimize your unsubscribe rate.

Target Your Sends

Do you have a large list? Cater to more than one type of customer? Targeting by interest, location, or buying activity can save you money and prevent you from losing subscribers. Plus, many email services such as make segmenting your email list simple.

Optimize for Mobile

Of primary email opens today, 48% are on a mobile device. You can ensure a positive user experience by optimizing your email for mobile—give links proper spacing to avoid tap errors, avoid placing important text within images, and be sure that images are sized properly for mobile viewing (the larger the image, the longer it’ll take to render on your subscriber’s phone). Email service providers can help here, too, as many provide mobile-optimized email templates.

Keep an Eye on Response Rates

Monitor open, click, and unsubscribe rates across all email campaigns. Watch out for trends in open and click rates, which will give you a good indication of what’s most relevant to your subscribers. Also, keep an eye out for noticeable changes in unsubscribe rates and change things up if rates trend negatively.

Stay CAN-SPAM Compliant

The CAN-SPAM Act sets basic requirements for commercial email messaging, and violations can be penalized. In order to stay CAN-SPAM compliant, all emails must include a valid postal address, be sent from an identifiable name and email address, and use a subject line that accurately reflects the content of the message. You must also include a clear method to unsubscribe and honor all opt-outs within 10 business days.