For those of you wanting to do effective marketing, I highly recommend this book "Neuromarketing" by Patrick Renvoise. He spoke at Idea Festival 2 years ago and was fascinating. http://www.amazon.com/Neuromarketing-Understanding-Buttons-Customers-Brain/dp/078522680X

No matter what the reason you are using email marketing, there are a few elements that every email campaign should include.  Most email service providers provide many of these functions.  If yours does not, look for one that does.

• Welcome messages - Your email sign-up form should trigger a welcome message to the subscriber.  It is also sometimes used to confirm the subscription as part of a double opt-in process.  The welcome message is a great opportunity to let new subscribers know what they can expect from your emails, that privacy is very important to your company and to set the tone for future emails.

Email marketing drives website traffic, increases conversions and works anywhere without the need for any additional software.  So how do you get the most from this very useful tool?  Lets explore the possibilities.

First and foremost, is planning the content of the email blast or newsletter.  Decide what the main goal for the communication is: driving site traffic, selling a product, offering a discount, announcing something important, etc.  When doing your planning, consider the following:

1. Headlines, subheadlines and descriptions mus be compelling and descriptive.  Give the subscriber a reason to click and read more.
2. Use images to make the content interesting, when possible.  Email readers will scan each email.  You can call attention to content you want to promote the most by using an image with the text.  Don't go overboard, as that will end up distracting them.
3. Create a sense of urgency.  People receive a ton of emails, and that can mean that yours will be lost in the group and not get opened.  Use items like "breaking news", "new time saving tool", etc. or topics that have an immediate impact for your subscribers in your subject line.
4. If you are trying to sell something, include a deal or discount.  Thanks to sites like Groupon and Living Social, users expect deals.  Email marketing is a great way to offer deals.  It creates urgency and encourages the user to remain on the list so they can receive more deals.  You can also consider offering group discounts like 10% off "select" products or services.  This will encourage them to click to see what products or services are available.
5. Embed links that send them directly to a landing page, that puts our call to action front and center without a lot of other clutter.
6. Include testimonials - 84% of Internet users trust peer to peer recommendations over direct marketing.

Yesterday we looked at how to add subscribers to your email lists.  In this article, we are going to look at some additional interesting ways to get the attention of potential subscribers and extend your reach.

Try using a viral email campaign, that includes something funny or unexpected but has a positive slant.  For example, as an April Fool's prank, ThinkGeek sent out an email with offers for phony products that were hilariously funny to capture the attention of their email subscribers.  Doing this type of ting, creates a fun but memorable twist for customers to pass along to their friends and associates as well as share on social media platforms.  

Another option is to create offers that are designed to be for friends and family as well.  A case study for The Bay, a Canadian retail store, found them using coupons in emails that clearly asked the reader to send it along to friends and family.  They nearly doubled their list from this exercise, so don't underestimate the power of asking for something to be shared.  It highly increases the likelihood of someone signing up for your list, because it was referred from someone they trusted and not a "cold call" email from a company they did not know.

Social media also offers great opportunities to grow email lists.  Social platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter give your subscribers the opportunity to republish or share your content.  This puts your company in front of new potential subscribers that you never had access to before.  Also make sure to include a sign-up form on your your Facebook Fan/Company page that allows people to sign up from there as well.  Twitter can be a great spot to.  Use an incentive like "Sign up for our newsletter and receive FREE SHIPPING on your next order" or another incentive that fits your company's services.

One last note, DO NOT BUY email lists.  These are people who don't know anything about your company and did not ask or "opt-in" to receive communications from you.  The results of sending emails to a purchased list are poor response results and even worse, the recipient flags your email as junk or spam, which can result in your email platform provider cancelling your account or you are levied with thousands of dollars in fines for violating spam laws.

Email marketing can be a very successful platform for marketing your business if it is done properly.  There are tons of options that can be coupled with it like surveys, auto-send emails (emails that are scheduled and go out say once a month that contain non time-sensitive information that your subscribers would find interesting) and much more.  Happy marketing.

• add a link to the sign-up form in your email signature so that all of your emails include a one-click link to register for your email program
• if you attend trade shows, events, etc. where you have a display, set up a computer at your exhibit to allow visitors to sign up for your email program
• include a one-click forward link in all your email campaigns - making it easy for recipients to share with their friends
• make sure to integrate a sign-up form on your website and on any social platforms that support that integration (Facebook for one does)
• in mailed correspondence, encourage recipients to go to your website and sign up for your email program - give them a reason to do this by letting them know what they will be receiving - tips & tricks, coupons, first notice of new products or services, a free or discounted seminar, etc.  DO NOT add emails to your email list without first getting permission from the recipient.

When putting the registration form together, make it as easy as possible.  Don't ask for too much information during this first encounter.  Ask only a few questions like their name, company name, industry or location.  Keeping it short will avoid scaring them off by asking for too much information up front.

In our next article, we will look at some tools to get the word out about your email list.