Use these Email Marketing tips to remind existing customers about your business and get past those spam filters and into customers’ inboxes.

Email Marketing is a great way to remind existing customers about your business, drive traffic to your site, and to keep customer relationships fresh and healthy.  Today’s spam filters getting tougher on incoming email and email marketing services such as Constant Contact® are making guidelines for sending email more strict and less forgiving. Follow these five tips out of trouble and maximize the effectiveness of your email campaigns.

1) Clean Contact list – Only send email to people/customers who you have done business with or have opted into receiving your emails. Failing to do so can get you banned from email marketing providers and hurt your reputation with potential and existing customers.

2) Clear Straight to the Point Subject Line – A email subject line designed to lure the reader into opening the email might actually never reach that intended reader. Subject lines with a dozen exclamation marks, all caps,  or content that doesn’t match the body of the email likely won’t pass muster with most ISP’s (Internet Service Providers)  and could go straight to the spam/junk folder of the recipient.

3) Relevant Content – Know what your audience wants. Sending them content they have no desire to read or engage in could give them the wrong impression of what your company has to offer them. Find the niche they need and show them why they should choose you albeit a better price, quality, service or all three.

4) Professional Design – A professional designed email template catches the eye but is not overbearing. Like a well designed website it melds functionality with aesthetics. Some of the most effective email designs look just like the website or e-commerce store they are representing.  Remember to always make the follow through by the email recipient as easy as possible. This can be done with links to actual products, links to forms, easy to read 800 number, ect.

5) Handle Unsubscribe Requests Quickly – Removing unsubscribers from your email marketing lists promptly will keep you from being labeled a spammer and avoid the hassle of trying to get back into good straights with your email marketing service provider.

Email marketing is a great tool to actively engage customers and draw traffic to your website. These five tips are designed to keep your email marketing campaign efforts in the clear and maximize their effectiveness.