3 Do's and 3 Don't's for email marketing

First integrate, integrate, integrate. Make sure that your email communications are going to the best group of customers and don't forget to integrate email lists with prospect lists whenever possible. Along the same lines, make sure your customer base knows that you know who they are by personalizing all messages.

Second, give them a deal. Don't email simply because you can. Make sure that every communication sent is an offer of some sort. By giving your customers value in each email they will be more likely to click through your next email.

Third, more integration - this time with other platforms. Mobile and social channels can easily be integrated into email campaigns, giving marketers a better chance of engaging the consumer.

Now for the things you shouldn't do which, turned around, are things you should be doing.

First, don't forget your research. Check out all of your lists to see who is responding and who isn't. Test a message with incentives for these non-responders and if they still don't respond, dump them from the list. Also, find out what email addresses are bouncing and immediately cull them to improve ROI.

Second, don't rely on one offer. Test different offers, test sending messages on different days or at different times of the day. By testing when messages are sent and how consumers respond marketers can better determine when to start that next campain.

Third, don't ignore your customer base. If it has been a while since you've asked for their input, send out a special message. Ask for their opinions and offer them something special as an incentive for responding to your email.

Tags: email marketing, email metrics, email targeting