Launching a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

Updated July 17, 2008

Like most people on the Internet, you probably receive your fair share of e-mail solicitations. And if you're like most people, you probably throw many of them away without even opening them.

But however strong your aversion to e-mail marketing may be, there's a reason your inbox is crowded with ads - they can work. E-mail marketing is regarded as one of the most effective online promotional techniques around, boasting business-to-consumer response rates of 30% and up. And if you've done direct mail for an offline business before, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the relatively small expenditure associated with launching an e-mail campaign.

Long-term, your strategy should be to develop your own in-house list of people that you can market to systematically, over time. Not only is it the most cost-effective option, but it provides you with the greatest assurance of list quality you can possibly achieve. After all, you compiled it. You can build your own list quite effectively - and surprisingly quickly - by launching an online newsletter. However, for a large-scale marketing attack, consider conducting an e-mail campaign using a rented, opt-in list.

E-mail marketing, unlike real estate, is one area where the advice "rent, don't buy" is perfectly sage. First, a purchased list is static, stagnant. The minute it's compiled, it begins deteriorating as the e-mail account holders who comprise it switch ISPs or open new ac-counts. A rented list from a reputable vendor, on the other hand, is regularly checked, cleansed, and purged of defunct addresses. Second, purchased lists often equate with "spam", or the sending of unwanted, solicitous e-mail to unwilling recipients. And rest assured, a spamming campaign has the potential to inflict some serious damage to your online business reputation.

Rented opt-in lists, on the other hand, are comprised of people who have given advertisers permission to send them e-mail on specific topics of interest. You have probably "opted in" to such lists in the past - maybe without even realizing you've done so. (The sign-up is usually tacked on to the end of a sign-up for some other, unrelated service.) And because a list is opt-in, you have (in most cases) a verifiably targeted audience and demographic.

A number of companies rent opt-in lists for advertising purposes. The first step is to identify one with a solid reputation (Netcreations, YesMail, 24/7 and TargitMail are well-known entities that offer a wide variety of targeted lists.) Steer clear of no-name companies offering bargain-basement rates.

Even if the company is well-known, you'll want to do some investigative work before settling on a particular list provider. Ask how the e-mail addresses you will be renting were gathered and request to see samples of the sign-up pages that were used. Ask an account representative to send you copies of ads - ideally from companies offering a similar product or service to yours - that have been sent to that list, along with the response rates achieved. And have the company provide you with a link to the reporting tools you will use to assess response rates to your campaign.

Once you've selected a list provider, you'll need to choose a format for your ad - HTML or plain text. While HTML continues to grow in popularity, it comes with its share of drawbacks - like slow download speeds and an inability for some e-mail accounts to display HTML-formatted messages. Plain text ads, on the other hand, are accessible to all e-mail account holders, don't require an HTML expert to design, and have been shown to deliver comparable returns to their flashier counterparts. Bottom line? Start with a plain text ad and consider graduating to HTML later.

Before writing your ad, read as many effective ones as your list rental company will provide you with - and check out what's working in your own in-box. There's always a well-crafted unsolicited work out there we can always learn from. Note the common characteristics among the effective email ads: a grabbing title with a solid offer; catchy, easy-to-read body text written in short sentences; a clear call-to-action with links that take readers directly to your landing page.

Finally, when your ad runs, be sure to make use of the company's reporting tools. They will tell you how many people responded to your ad and give you a benchmark you can use for future campaigns.