Ok.  (Deep breath).  I have a confession to make.  I am a bonafide email nerd. Yep, there it is, I said it. I live it, I breathe it, I put ez-cheese on it and eat it.  Now I wouldn’t have admitted that a few weeks ago…until I made a discovery.  I’m not alone.  I had the pleasure of attending the Direct Marketing Association sponsored Email Evolution Conference earlier this month in Miami, FL.  So while the Indianapolis Colts were poolside next door, Jordan Sparks was giving a concert in an adjoining conference room, and Lou Ferrigno was having drinks at the lobby bar (I’m not making this up folks) – hundreds of fellow email practitioners gathered behind closed doors to discuss the latest eMarketing trends and best practices.  Oh yeah, email nerds unite!

Listening and learning from the brightest minds in email innovation, I took away a few simple gold nuggets of knowledge I’d like to bestow upon my fellow email enthusiasts out there…

1. Don’t forget the welcome mat. Growing your email list can be difficult and sometimes expensive.  My advice, once you get that email address – treat it like your mom on Mother’s Day.  The first thing many email marketers do is forget to send an immediate welcome email after a prospect/customer signs up for their email distribution list.  A big no-no. Why is this so imperative?  Well, like the saying goes, first impressions are everything, besides that here are a few reasons why welcome emails are imperative:
   1. Immediately reminds the subscriber they signed up for your emails (hey, I forget where I put my keys down two minutes earlier).  By gently jogging their memory it also helps reinforce their decision to begin a relationship with you and lets them know that you will be attentive to their needs.
   2. Allows the subscriber to put your email send from address in their safe sender list.  This way your email will always reach their inbox and images will automatically be displayed in their email browser. If you aren’t asking your subscribers to put you on the white list, start asking now.
   3. Provides you the opportunity to set expectations with your customer.  Give them a taste of the content, promotions, or value-add your emails will be bringing to their inbox.  Start training your subscriber on what you’d like them to do in your emails, whether it’s as simple as gleaning industry knowledge or directing them to your website to purchase a new widget.
2. Four seconds to save the world. That’s it, four seconds is all you get.  That is how long the average email reader scans (I didn’t say reads, scans) an email to see if it is worth their time.  It shouldn’t surprise you – you are guilty of doing it yourself.  Heck, sometimes I don’t make it past the send from name and subject line.  As email practitioners this should give us some understanding of just what an integral part email design and call-to-action play in your email.  When they glance at your email they should know exactly what the purpose of the email is, what the offer and call-to-action is, and what their next step should be.  You accomplish this by first and foremost having these items above the fold (before you scroll down to see the rest of the email) as well as having them stand out using both images and text (in the event images are disabled when they preview).  Remember, your readers are busy just like you – don’t make them regret signing up for your emails.  Give all your emails the four-second-glance test. Tick tock tick tock.
3. Email isn’t near extinction. Nowadays everyone seems to be enamored with the new shiny object called social media.  And well, rightfully so.  Its public adoption is unparalleled and has countless ramifications for marketers regarding their brand participation and perception.  However, email and social media need each other.  Email remains the foundation for social network verification and notification.  Furthermore, email ROI continues to be the strongest of any direct marketing medium with numbers that continue to increase each year.  Email isn’t going anywhere and in fact it’s getting sexier. Technology advancements now allow email content to be dynamic based on behavior and soon, still in beta testing, these advancements will allow email to be interactive with content that changes and moves (much like a website or rich media banner ad).

The best game plan is to embrace and integrate the three newer digital mediums - call it the “Triangle Offense” – of email, social media, and mobile. You will see all three channels of marketing become stronger when used together.