by Emmanuel Lloyd

Created on: April 08, 2011

What I thought I knew about email marketing, was quickly put to the test! Sure, I follow the rules, well, the rules as I knew them. During a closed door, members only marketing meeting I attended last night in West Chester PA - I had the privilege of listening and learning from the CEO of one of the most respected email marketing services out there... Tom Kulzer of AWeber Communications. For those that don't know... AWeber is a 12-1/2 year old company, with 60 employees and 97,000 customers. Here's what I discovered... The days of blasting are over! The average email list is around 300-500! Ask for feedback! Monday and Friday are the highest open rate days. Sadly, the average open rate for read email is only 1-4%Actually, my head is still spinning from all the great information Tom shared, which being the nice guy I am, I will pass on to you. Your emails need to have 3 things to be effective... 1) Have Expectation - readers are expecting your message 2) Create Engagement - create a conversation 3) Build Reputation - be known for sending information that is read Tom revealed that, with the way inboxes are being reconfigured, based on priority of your email message your reader may never see your message. Yeah, it's a whole new game. And the rules are changing! In the past, you could send an email out and in most cases the reader would have to at least read the headline before deleting it, nope...not anymore. Now your email is prioritized by: what you open, what you read, what you click and who you reply to. It's that smart...and it was created to fight off unwanted spam. Here's where it got interesting... When you raise the level of engagement with your reader, the cognitive priority settings of your email programs especially Google's mail service will keep your message out of the spam filters. How do you raise engagement? Simple! Ask for it! Yep, ask for feedback! When your reader comments on your message and you can actively engage them in conversation, you are (1) being engaging and (2) actually increasing your reputation as an honest email marketer. Requesting content for a future article or holding contests are also great ways to engage your reader and build a positive reputation. Here's some tricks to get your email read... Keep it regularly published. Use limited time offers. Offer discounts. Share top "X" lists. Reveal secrets, tips and tricks. Keep the format consistent. Build your brand.

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