No one wants their email box to be cluttered up with advertising, so it’s your job as an email marketer to send your reader something they actually want. Informative, interesting and even entertaining emails should be your goal, but how do you achieve that? Continue reading to find some excellent tips from experts in the field.

An excellent tip for email marketing is to follow up with some type of update on your products or services that you are providing. For example, you could add a “buy now” feature onto your email. The ending of your email could inform your readers to keep in mind the up-sell as well.

Minimize traditional email marketing activities during the holidays. Customers are preoccupied with family and friends, and are less likely to be paying attention to business email. Your odds of ending up in the spam box are considerably higher, which could have longer term implications for your bottom line. The major exception to this would be a business directly related to the holiday activities. Otherwise, give yourself a break and enjoy some downtime yourself. Business will be back on track in a day or two.

Only send messages to those you know and those who have signed up. Otherwise, you risk being known as a spammer. They’ll be wondering if they know of you from somewhere and whether they care about what you’re attempting to sell to them. This can make them delete your emails and waste your time.

Before using email marketing, create a test email and send it to a friend or family member. Your loved one can see how the email looks and give you feedback. This way, if any changes need to be made, you can do it before sending the emails out to customers.

Follow up with contacts you meet at trade shows. Collect people’s phone numbers when they stop by your table and call them within a couple of weeks of meeting them. Use the follow-up call to check in with your contact and ask him if he would like to receive your marketing newsletter by email.

While online promotion is essential, don’t overlook the opportunity to promote your mailing list offline. To build both new subscribers and potential clients, look for any opportunity possible to get the word out. Some great opportunities to build your business can be found at networking events, trade shows, conferences and local gatherings.

Don’t include the use of newsletters in your email marketing campaign. You can send the people on your opt-in list relevant emails about particular topics instead. You will attract more people when they know that they will only be receiving information that they are interested in, and that they will not have to sift through an entire newsletter to get it.

Make sure your emails contain unique and informative content rather than simply promotional material. Offer your subscribers deals that they can’t find anywhere else, including your main website. Also include offers which are exclusive for your products or services. You should send out specials and holiday greetings, don’t only send emails when you want something.

When you are building an effective email marketing campaign, you need to have the proper sign-up forms on your company website. Make sure you have them on every page, and also make sure that they are in the proper locations on your site pages. This is key to getting the customers to sign up.

If you use images in your email newsletters, put text to the right of the images. Research shows that customers are far more likely to click on a link or button that is placed to the left of an image than one that is placed anywhere else on the page.

Use words that are appropriate to the industry you are focusing on in your marketing materials. For example, if you are writing marketing materials for new technological items, use words such as “new,” “advanced” or “state-of-the-art” that are commonly used in that industry. Using the right words will help increase your products’ appeal to your customers.

Be persistent with your campaign. Make sure to stay persistent with the correct people or it will be a waste of time. Persistence while targeting the wrong audience will simply waste your time and energy.

It is very important to pay attention to when you send your e-mails. If you send them in the middle of the night or very early in the morning, some of your recipients might simply delete your e-mail when they wake up along with the rest of their junk mail. Utilize tracking tools to determine the ideal time to send your e-mails.

Try sending birthday messages to your subscribers. You can allow a place when your readers sign up to include their birth dates. When their birthdays arrive, you can create a message that can be sent to them. This can build a positive and personal relationship with the recipient that can really boost your business.

You may be able to use social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, to make your email marketing more successful. These networks make it easier for customers to share your information with others, and you can grow your mailing list organically by interacting with visitors at your social networking sites, drumming up interest for your content.

Someday you too may be an expert in your field, but for now you need to learn as much as you can to hone your skills and provide you with new ideas. This article is a great stepping stone, but don’t stop here – practice what you’ve learned and continue reading and success will be within your reach!