I spend my days at Jericho talking about email marketing and telling people you don’t have to start from scratch or throw the baby out with the bathwater.  (You don’t even have to resort to cliches like I just did!)  Evolving your plans won’t ever be done, so why not pick one of the following 5 simple things and make it a part of your repertoire from today.

1 Data: If it isn’t perfect, testing a few key elements makes a big difference to response. For example you can use A/B split testing on a small portion of your database to find out which subject line works better and send the best one to the remainder of your list.

2 Use technology to your advantage: Automate, personalise, segment and target content. For example, get emails triggered from customer lifecycle events. Have the email look as though it is sent from, and signed off by your client’s Account Manager. Recognise and cater to basic differences like gender and region to make your recipient feel special; dynamic content tools make this simple.

3 Social Media and SMS: Use Social media and SMS to extend the reach of your core programs. Fantastic results come from even very simple multi-channel campaigns

• e.g. Email1: check your letterbox next week
• DM1: offer arrives in your letterbox
• Email2: did you get the offer – hurry it’s finishing soon.

4 Interact: Checking and responding to email will continue to be a favourite online activity for all of us, so give your recipients something to get excited about when they do.

5 Aim high: Setting your own benchmarks, monitoring performance and testing new approaches will ensure that your email marketing has the best chance to keep your organisation top of mind and the best choice for your customers and prospects.  For a start, get the Jericho Email Marketing Metrics Report here now and set some goals.

Add, tweak, measure, remove, add… you can’t stop the music so you might as well keep dancing…