Email Marketing Guide - The power and pitfalls of Email Marketing

Email marketing is here to stay, at least until the next generation technology development, so you might as well put it to the best business use possible.

Unlike the unfortunate legal firm employee who's intimate email to a boyfriend was forwarded to thousands of bored office workers around the world, within days of it dropping into the wrong inbox.

Despite the negative publicity generated for her firm, the incident served as a timely reminder of the positive and massive potential for the right email message to reach a vast audience within a very short space of time. Call it viral marketing or instant online gossip, either way your news or information could be on millions of desktops around the world within minutes if you get it right.

Never in the history of communication has there been such an opportunity for businesses and individuals to influence mass audiences with such speed. Of course with so many people now trying to do it, you need to focus on sending email marketing campaigns that will appeal to those you are trying to influence, otherwise your message will be one of dozens or maybe scores of emails trashed that day.

Core 13 top tips on getting the best results from an email marketing campaign are:

• Keep it short and sweet
• Make it look as visually attractive as possible
• Make it relevant
• Make your message obvious
• Make it easy for people to respond or find out more
• Tell them something they didn't already know
• And never use humour unless almost everyone is sure to find it extremely funny