Email was the No.1 tactic that marketers targeted for increases in the run-up to the 2009 holiday season, followed by SEM & SEO, online banners and coupons. Also, according to MarketingSherpa, emails to house lists or rented lists generates approximately 10 to 20%  of website visitors to eCommerce sites.

“Email marketing remains the underfunded, underappreciated bulwark of online marketing.  Although it routinely gets good reviews from all types of online marketers, email is less likely than other tactics to get its own line in the budget, or to be routinely upgraded with better technology.”

So, you understand the reasons and the benefits of email marketing and you are ready to start or to improve where things are not so good. Here is a checklist you should consider before starting an email campaign:

1. Campaign objectives – direct online sales, generating sales leads, branding & marketplace education, increase website traffic, other.

2. Email type – define the type (newsletter, promotion, product information) based on the campaign objectives

3. Target & segmentation – existing customers, prospects, email registrations, third party list

4. Design – html, text, image.  Your Call to Action should be punchy and actionable! Also, you should consider that 49% of the consumers configures their inbox Preview Pane horizontal with small preview, so they will see first only a part of your email.

5. Subject line – the first test you have to pass is when your email enters the recipient’s inbox. If your subject is not catchy enough, your email won’t be opened and will affect the entire campaign.

6.  Message – it’s all about building a relation with your customers and, the most important, to keep your promises!

7. Landing page – home page, product page, promotion page, custom page. Landing page have to be an extent of the message from email, to reflect the promises.

8. Delivery day & time – week days with higher email open rates are Wednesday and Monday, while lowest are Saturday and Sunday. Also, lunchtime is primetime on the Internet, when most of users log on to do non-work related activities during their lunch break at work.

9. Frequency – one time, weekly, monthly.  Your customers don’t care whether they get your email weekly or yearly, as long as what you have to say is worth the time it takes to read it. Sending out too many emails could get you blocked by recipients and spam filters.

10. Metrics – always measure the results of your campaign!  Open rate, click-through rate, clicks per each link, orders/leads/revenue per email are the most used metrics.  Compare your results with open and click-through rates worldwide.

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• Email Marketing Metrics: Open and Click-Through Rates Worldwide