The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing

The leading email marketing firm shows you how to create high-impact, low-cost campaigns Email marketing is an incredibly cost-effective way to establish and build relationships that drive business success. But, it can also be a challenge because the inbox is a hostile environment. Whether your email is noteworthy—or an annoying waste of your customer's time—depends on your ability to stick to stick the fundamentals of good marketing and authentic relationship building. The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing presents best practices and relationship-building principles from America’s leading email marketing firm. With over 280,000 small business and non-profit clients, Constant Contact is constantly testing and learning what works and what doesn't, and it's all here. There's no other email guide on the market that provides this level of comprehensive, practical guidance. Whether you're starting your own small business or need to grow on a shoestring budget, this book will get you up to speed fast. Learn about: Ten email pitfalls that will get your business into trouble Ten things your customers expect you to do The "soft" benefits of email marketing Using email in combination with other marketing efforts How four types of permissions can make or break your strategy Building an email list that is valuable and effective Creating valuable content Choosing an effective, professional email format Ensuring your emails are delivered, opened, and read With The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing, you'll learn to avoid the common mistakes of email marketing, give your customers content they love, and combine an effective email marketing strategy with your traditional marketing efforts—giving you way more bang for your marketing buck.

Acknowledgments vii Chapter 1 The 40 “Know It or Blow It” Rules of Email Marketing 1 Chapter 2 The Power of Email Relationships 14 Chapter 3 Making Money: The Economics of Email 29 Chapter 4 The Benefits of Permission-Based Email Marketing 44 Chapter 5 Building a Quality Email List 62 Chapter 6 Making Your Email List More Valuable 74 Chapter 7 The Three Rules of Valuable Email Content 89 Chapter 8 Creating Email Content That Leads to Action 106 Chapter 9 Looking Professional: Choosing an Effective Email Format 121 Chapter 10 Making Introductions: Subject Lines, From Lines, and Frequency 145 Chapter 11 Email Filters and Other Delivery Challenges 156 Chapter 12 Tracking and Improving Email Campaigns 170 Chapter 13 Collecting More Feedback with Surveys 186 Chapter 14 Getting Beyond the Inbox 195 About the Author 203 About Constant Contact 204 Index 207