In 1867 the Pony Express made its fastest delivery – 7 days and 17 hours. The route: St. Joseph Missouri to Sacramento California. The average speed: 10 miles per hour.

The message was President Lincoln’s Inaugural Address.

The riders were from 11 to 40 years old and all weighed less than 125 lbs. To make this delivery, horses had to be changed every 10 to 15 miles.

By contrast, the US Postal Service delivery now takes at least a day, longer the farther away from the destination, Federal Express can get it there overnight by 10am the next business day.

Chances are many of you will leave this meeting and go back to your office where you will open an email that was sent from across the nation, maybe even around the globe within a matter of minutes. Only a fax machine can compare to the speed of email.

The simple truth is that of the 94 Million American Adults that use the internet every day, the number one reason for going online is to check their email. According to a DoubleClick survey, 81% of internet users go online daily to check email. That’s too big a number to ignore.

Why is email so popular?

Because it’s easy, fast, cheap, direct and it elicits and immediate response. When you add email to your marketing mix you spend less time, money and resources than with traditional marketing vehicles like direct mail or print advertising.

From a marketing standpoint, email was initially primarily used for gaining new customers – often via spam techniques. It has since shifted to promotional and customer relationship marketing.

Consumers expect emails to confirm transactions and shipping, and they are open to the ideas of their email addresses being used to promote ancillary offers.

Customer service is another area of opportunity for email.

According to an October 2004 Doubleclick survey, nearly 8 out of 10 consumers have used email for customer service. A consumer expects a service inquiry response immediately but up to 24 hours is acceptable.

More than that, businesses spend 80% of their marketing budget on gaining new customers but cultivating the current customer base costs less and generates greater revenue. Every email contact with a prospect or customer is a marketing opportunity in that is it a brand building and relationship building tool.

So what is the difference between an effective email marketing campaign and one that is tainted?

The email recipient is the sole decision maker of what constitutes spam. And the recipient pays for the email. Among the top reasons an email is deemed to be spam: Deceptiveness and unknown senders (of course), frequency and irrelevancy (even though permission was granted).

1) You must have some relationship with the recipients. Relationship is a broad term in the eyes of the FCC.

If, for example, you have a list of email addresses belonging to people who are members of the same affiliation or organization as you that can constitute a relationship. If you have a list of email addresses belonging to people who have previously done business with you that constitutes a relationship. If someone has emailed you asking for information about your product or service, that constitutes a relationship.

The ultimate relationship is the opt-in list, people who have specifically requested or “opted” to receive email from you.

When you email these groups, it’s a good idea to make it clear what the affiliation or relationship is to lessen the risk of being considered spam.

Bottom line: relevant, valuable emails sent to people who asked or agreed to get them are the best people to market to via email.

2) Second, you must have an opt-out on each and every email. The best way to handle it is an automated process so you won’t have to deal with finding each address one at a time to remove them from the list. This is one of the reasons why many companies use a broadcast email service to handle email marketing.

Use a Broadcast Service

Another reason to use a broadcast service is that the email sent does not disclose the addresses of the people to which the email was sent. This an important privacy issue.

Many professionals are under the impression that Outlook will hide the addresses to which the email was sent. This is not the case.

Design for the Recipient

When designing an email for marketing the first thing to consider is the recipient, of course.

Different email programs will interpret your message differently. For example, there are web based email programs like Horde and SquirrelMail that will not read images so the email is either garbled or filtered out as spam. (sckansas email handout)

Other email programs offer the option of viewing or not viewing images. So your email may show up with several blank spaces.

The solution is to have 2 versions of the email that are sent in tandem. That way the email program of the recipient can determine which version to display.

Know What Words to Use (Examples 1 / 2 & Triggers)

Another thing to consider is the subject line. Because of the words that trigger spam filters, the subject line as well as the message needs to be free of these words – in fact the word free is often a trigger. The header cannot be misleading either.

The Message

When structuring the message, again you have to remember to stay away from certain words, phrases or dollar signs. Now this part can get to be challenging. This is why you may see legitimate emails with special characters.

Email messages should be concise, to the point and carry a strong call to action. The idea is to get the recipient to interact with your company so give them plenty of opportunities and incentives to do so.

Remember, email is a brand building opportunity so be sure that you reinforce brand messages, encourage communication and interaction through links to the supporting website and reply to email addresses.

Track the Results

Be sure to track performance of your email marketing program. This is yet another reason to use a broadcast email service. Through third party services you have the ability to see how many people opened the email, how many people clicked the various links in the email etc. This also allows you to better target your emails to a specific audience or give more information that the recipients are genuinely interested in.

Like any advertising, email must be done consistently. And, like many marketing strategies, the program must flex to any new challenges or new opportunities. Don’t be afraid to vary the format, timing and offers to find the email that works best for your company. And definitely integrate email marketing along with any other marketing – loyalty programs, print ads etc. “join our email newsletter and get even more discounts, savings etc.”

Legitimate email marketing is a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. It’s inexpensive, fast, efficient, and environmentally friendly. Email marketing allows you to target your customers and prospects by their particular interests, it allows you quickly announce special promotions (either planned promotions or impromptu promotions based on changing conditions). Email is the perfect way to send a monthly newsletter. Email marketing’s efficiency was underscored in a study by the Direct Marketing Association which found that in 2005 email marketing returned an amazing $57.25 in revenue per dollar spent on it!

How can you get started with email marketing? Start by collecting your customers’ email addresses. Even if you don’t currently do email marketing, gather your customers’ email addresses now so that, when you decide to start communicating with your customers via email, you’ll already have a good list. Have a sign-up sheet at each of your checkout counters or at your reception desk. Be sure to include a sign-up form on your website. Offer an incentive such as a monthly drawing from the collected email addresses. Be sure to include a privacy statement on your forms and sign-up sheets such as, “Privacy notice: We don’t share your information with anyone.” (Of course, that means you can’t share that information ever.) Remember, email addresses are free (or very inexpensive) to gather.

Now, the three secrets to making email marketing a winner for your business.

Secret number one: Do only “permission-based” email marketing. In other words, only send email to people who have requested your email messages and make it easy to opt-out of future emails. There is a slimy side to email marketing thanks to spammers. Obviously, you want to be associated with the reputable side of email marketing. If a customer, a prospect, or a site visitor willingly provides their email address, you’re not spamming. If you get it any other way, you’re spamming. A commonly used technique for dealing with subscription requests from your website is called a “double-opt-in”. A double-opt-in requires the individual to first request your email marketing, then a confirmation request is sent to their email address. They must click a link in the confirmation email or otherwise confirm their desire to receive your email before they’re added to your list. The rule is simple: If in doubt, don’t send it out.

Secret number two: Make your email marketing messages compelling for the reader. Keep them short and to-the-point and ensure that the recipient will see the value in whatever you’re saying. Increasingly, people are becoming distrustful of “hypie” messages that sound like they were written by an advertising copy writer. Make your message real, make it personal, and make it deliver a benefit from the readers’ perspective. If there’s nothing in it for them, they’ll just delete your message or possibly even report it as spam.

Secret number three: Be consistent. Whether you choose to send an email campaign every week, every month, or every quarter, be consistent. One very successful email marketer even includes these words at the top of every email he sends: “Sent the third Tuesday of every month…” Your consistency in your marketing efforts reflects your dependability as a company.

What about the mechanics of email marketing? Many very small businesses just use their regular email accounts. Such a solution can work, but it doesn’t scale well as your email list and business grow. It also requires you to manage your new subscribers and unsubscribe requests. A better solution is to use a commercial email marketing service. Such companies provide templates to make your messages look professional. They also provide tracking information on how many messages were actually opened and read, automatic opt-out links on your marketing messages, tutorials, assistance in complying with the CAN-SPAM act, and more. Costs start at about $10 per month and go up from there based on various criteria such as the size of your list and the frequency with which you send messages. Most such companies provide a free trial period so you can get familiar with their service. There are many email marketing companies, but here are three for you to consider: iContact (www.icontact.com), GetResponse (www.getresponse.com), and Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com).

Make sure you’re compliant with the CAN-SPAM act. Of course, this is not legal advice (I’m no lawyer!), but compliance means being honest in your subject lines about the content of the message, including an easy opt-out method in every message, and including your complete contact information in every message.

Regardless of how you decide to do your email marketing, now is the time to start gathering email addresses. Email marketing, done properly, is flexible, affordable, efficient, and potentially very profitable for your business.

In order to get your emails opened, I recommend following these 5 tips which will gaurantee an increased open rate and lead to more sales.

1) Write Like You’re Writing to a Friend

When you go into your inbox, you’ll notice that emails from friends with “informal” subject lines recieve your attention first. You can attract this kind of attention by writing a simple “unofficial” sentence. Write lines like “I hope this will be of help”, “Great event coming up”, etc. Be imaginative and you’ll come up with quite a few related to your message.

2) Ask a Question

Asking a question in your subject line creates curiosity and makes your subscribers open your emails. Just ask a question related to your message and you’re done. For example, if you’re giving out a special offer, you can ask a question like “Will you take this up?” or “What if I give you all these?

3) Don’t Hype

A lot of marketers are often tempted to convey a marketing message in their subject lines which usually result in hyped up subject lines. If you’re lucky enough to get past spam filters, your subscribers will still not be happy with you. Remember no one likes been sold to. Personally, i usually delete messages like “Make millions”, or subject lines with too many capitals as well as fancy gimmicks like a row of asterisks.

4) Always Personalize

Always remember to include the first name of your subscribers in your subject line. This is a very important technique. People tend to take a close look at subject lines that has their first name in it. You can easily do this using your autoresponder service.

5) Use “regular” Sentences

If you have a regular schedule of sending out email campaigns, try giving your campain a “regular” name. For instance, if you send out your newsletter at the begining of every month, you can always use the line “your newsletter is ready”. Also, if you send out special offers your subscribers love you for, you can keep using the same line like “my gift to you this month” over and over again.

Using the above tips will help you write more effective subject lines which will improve the rate at which your subscribers open your email and ultimately your bottom line.