Email marketing is now the marketing tool with the highest ROI, the Direct Marketing Association’s studies show that for every dollar invested in email marketing, about $40 in sales are generated.

This is not to say, however, that you can send emails out scatter-shot, assuming that if your logo is prominent at the top of your email, you’ve at least accomplished name recognition. You could, at the same time, be accomplishing name “prohibition,” meaning that if you’re not delivering anything useful with your emails, your prospects will begin to prohibit them from their inbox. In today’s fast-paced Internet, you have to get your prospect’s attention, maintain it with valuable information, and then entice them to click through to your website.

How to Make Email Marketing Successful

Let’s first look at what your goals should be to improve your email marketing efforts:

1 – Build a bigger list

Make sure that growing your list is one of your primary objectives. Offer some great reasons why people should sign up for your emails, enticing them with the kind of information or offers you’re going to provide them in the future. For example, if you’re a retailer, tell them they’ll receive notification of sales, close-outs, new inventory and even coupons. If you sell to other businesses, consider offering a white paper where you can showcase your expertise. Also, make sure your sign-up link or tab is high up on your website and very prominent.

2 – Improve your email open rates

There are three primary reasons why people will open your email:

• Relationship
• Relevance
• Value/curiosity factor

Let’s look first at the relationship. The number one reason why people open an email is because they have a relationship with that person. If people sign up for your email because of your business name or a person’s name, make sure the business name or person’s name is instantly recognizable, so they don’t automatically move it to the trash.

Your information also has to have relevance. Make sure you are delivering on the things you promised to talk about, so your prospects are getting what they signed up for. Also, package your information in a way that gives them something of value, or piques their curiosity. If you’re a photography studio, you could put this in your subject line: “The Top 5 Secrets for a Flattering Photo.” Chances are good most people are going to open the email. If you’re an air conditioning repair company, consider using this: “What You Could Be Breathing Besides Just Air.”

3 – Improve click-throughs

Once you’ve enticed your prospects inside your email, you want them to take some kind of action. You’ll need to build a case for why they should click through…to read more, buy something, share the email, or respond to you. It can also be a free benefit such as a free guide, coupon, intriguing article, or a free “whatsit” you’ll send to them.

Now focus!

Be sure the information you give them is succinct, to the point, and very focused. The online world is fast-paced and you want to make it easy for people to act on the information you’re giving them. Fluff is only good for pillow salesmen.

To ensure your email is as focused as it can be, ask yourself if you’ve effectively answered these questions in your email:

• Who are you trying to persuade to take the action?
• Make sure you’re hitting your target market.
• What is the action you want someone to take?
• Make sure it’s prominent and to the point.
• What does that person need in order to feel confident taking that action?
• Make it clear what your response will be after they take the action.
• When all of these factors are included in your emails, your company will be at the forefront of your prospects’ minds when they need your product or service.

At Solutions for Growth, we are an email marketing agency with proven expertise in full-service email marketing. We take the “guess” out of success. Our clients depend upon our email marketing services to write effective, intriguing copy and create great layout and graphics that grab immediate attention.