Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing ever used. It’s still more effective than social media marketing, pay per click marketing, and other forms of marketing available to use today. Any rumors to the contrary are wrong. Forbes, CopyBlogger.com, and Hubspot all agree that email marketing is still highly effective.

Attract the Right Sign Ups for Your List

You do not have to have a large list to make money. A smaller, more targeted list can be better than a huge list without a target audience. Build your list with smart campaigns that attract only your ideal customer. If your free gift offer isn’t interesting to anyone but your perfect client, that’s a good start.

Use Double Opt-in Lists

SPAM laws in many countries like the UK, USA and Canada should be followed. They are mostly the same but if you market internationally, follow the ones that are most strict just to be on the safe side. Getting double opt-in agreements is your best bet to avoid issues with SPAM. In addition, sending only relevant information to your audience will help too.

Segment Your Audience

You don’t want to have people on a list that promotes product A when they’ve already bought it. Instead, you want them to be on list B now so that you can promote product B to them. Your email software can be set up to do this automatically. This action alone can help you avoid problems with customers getting bothered by your emails. It will also up the likelihood of your audience buying your next product.

Keep Relevant Information Flowing

When someone signs up for a list it’s because they’re interested in getting the information for which they signed up. If you don’t send them information on a regular basis that is relevant they’re not going to be very responsive. But, if you do send them what they’re looking to get, you’ll be surprised at how positive the email list experience will be, for you and your audience.

Point Your Audience to Helpful Information

In addition to promoting your own products and services it’s also helpful to your list to point them toward information and products or services that they need that you don’t create. You can become a needed and trusted resource for your email list members. As they get to know you and trust you, they’re going to be more likely to accept the helpful information that you provide.

Remind Your Audience about Your Blog

A good use of your email list is to remind them about the messages on your blog. Introducing a new blog post within an email message is a great way to ensure that your readers get the information they need about you, your products and services as well as the affiliate programs you support.

Write Effective Interesting Headlines

Don’t be too cleaver with your headlines. People get angry when a headline is deceptive and dishonest. Be direct about what’s inside so that when they open it and read it they develop even more trust for you based off the fact the headline matched the message. The more direct you are, the more honest you are; the more effective your email marketing messages will be.

Remember the Call to Action

Like blog posts, every email message you send to your audience should include a call to action (CTA) of some kind. Whether its buy now, read this blog post, or share with your friends include something for your audience to do. If you don’t tell them what to do or ask them to do something there is a high chance they will do nothing.

Collect & Test Your Metrics

Nothing is ever done without the numbers. Try different headlines, and different CTAs to see what gets the best results. Which headlines are opened more often? Which CTA’s were answered? How many people purchased X product upon your recommendation? How many people are responding to your questions and surveys? If you know this information you can use it to improve your email marketing campaigns.

Finally, repeat everything that works. When you find a winning way to run your email campaigns, keep repeating it for different products and services because you’ll get better email marketing results.