by Barry Dewar

Created on: May 23, 2008

Email marketing seems like a simple idea. You have something you want to say to your customers, you have their email address and you know how to write an email. Couldn't be simpler right?

Well, on one level it really is that simple but there are some other things that you should consider: How will you know who has opened it or read it? Who's going to respond to all the feedback you get if it's a success? Were your customers happy to receive it? Were you operating within the law?

It may seem simple but when it comes down to it there are few things more stressful in online marketing than sending out an email to your customers. No, I can't make it any less stressful but I can offer you some tips so that you know what you are letting yourself in for.

1/ Get permission.
You may have a list from your sales guy of leads, or maybe you've archived emails of customers who have been in touch but that's not enough. If you send people marketing email without their consent, not only is it annoying. It's illegal. Whether you buy a list or make your own, everyone on it must have opted in.

2/ Belt and Braces.
It's lovely to be sending out image rich HTML emails, they are on brand and make you look sophisticated but the bottom line is that not everyone is capable of receiving them. There are a lot of different email applications out there on different platforms so make sure you offer a text alternative to whatever you send.

3/ Use e-marketing software.
It's vital that you are able to track basic stats such as how many customers opened the mail, how many addresses bounced and who wants to unsubscribe. There are a number of companies offering web based services, just Google "e-marketing software" and pick one that you think looks good.

4/ Call to action.
There is no reason for you not to encourage your customers to do something on receipt of your message. Make sure the copy and the structure leads them towards clicking that link back to your site or calling that number.

5/...and track them
And when they have been called to action. Make sure you know that they did it after reading that carefully constructed email you sent them. You can do this on your website by checking your logs for referral information. If you don't know what that is, find someone who does.

6/ Test different creatives
The real beauty of direct marketing is that you can get to the bottom of what works very quickly. Use different approaches to the same message to send out 2 or even 3 different versions to different people on

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