15 tips for a successful email marketing campaign

1. Determine what the purpose of your message is going to be. For example, will the email serve as an educational newsletter or be used as a sales tool to introduce and market new products?
    
2. Put an email marketing plan together in which you identify what kind of content you will write and how frequently you will send the newsletter.
    
3. Design an email newsletter that best represents your brand and website, incorporating your company website's colours, themes and logo for a professional look and feel.
    
4. Add a newsletter sign up form on your company's website and blog in order to collect email addresses.
    
5. Never buy or borrow an email list as this may have negative effects on your reputation. Such lists may not be 100% opt-in or targeted for your specific audience (though they may make such claims).
    
6. Use a double opt-in method for all subscribers. You should be confirming with each subscriber that they want to receive your newsletter.
    
7. Send a welcome email to all new subscribers thanking them for signing up and letting them know what they will get in your newsletter.
    
8. Keep and maintain up-to-date sign up records for everyone that has ever signed up or unsubscribed from your newsletter. This will allow you to justify your mailing and avoid having your account cancelled for violating anti-spam policies.
    
9. Keep in contact with your subscribers. If you send too infrequently, they may forget that they signed up. Be sure to send regular mailings in order to stay top-of-mind.
    
10. Include a valid phone number and website URL at the bottom of your emails. It provides an alternative way for your list members to reach you.
     
11. Make unsubscribing to your newsletter as simple and clear as possible. Never hide the unsubscribe link as this will frustrate your subscribers and raise spam complaints.
     
12. Try using personalisation in your newsletter. Personalise the subject line and/or the body of the newsletter with the recipients' name and see how that works for you.
     
13. Use social media in your newsletter. Social networking icons, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc., are great ways to reach a wider audience.
     
14. Track opens, clicks and other relevant response rates closely. These rates are great indicators of how successful (or unsuccessful) your newsletters are.
     
15. Make sure your email campaign is 100% spam compliant.

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