2010 was quite a year. In January we were in the midst of a near-crippling global recession. By October we were told that the worst was behind us and the recession was officially over. However, the impact of an economic downturn – and the wariness of most humans on the planet – has most companies and consumers acting cautiously when it comes to spending money.

In 2011 marketers have a real opportunity. You have just spent the last two years getting blood from the proverbial turnip by doing more with less, and doing everything you can to drive greater results with fewer resources. In 2011 you can turn that habit into a goldmine by staying the course while others start spending more. This will give you and your company a competitive advantage and help yield greater results without an additional investment of resources.

Here are a few key trends and tips to put into practice in 2011:

1. Lists, lists, lists. Opt-in lists are the foundation upon which all successful email marketing programs sit. If your company is not practicing regular opt-in email list building, list maintenance and list hygiene, you are running the risk of harming the #1 marketing medium you have at your disposal. So make a resolution to ensure your lists are clean and compliant in 2011 and get your year off to a great start.

2. Email deliverability. At Lyris we talk about deliverability a lot. That’s because email marketing cannot yield results if your email messages don’t get delivered to your intended recipients. And with more companies relying on email marketing, deliverability is more top of mind than ever. There are quite a few simple ways to optimize the delivery of your email messages. Put them into practice in 2011 and your email campaigns will reap even greater rewards than ever before.

3. Relevance. I mentioned relevance in my last blog post. And I mention it again because it’s just that important. ISPs gauge the legitimacy and deliverability of email messages by the level of engagement recipients have with them. And one of the best ways to increase engagement is to develop uber-relevant email messages – either through segmentation and/or targeted messaging and offers. Get relevant in 2011 and you will get better results.

4. Use the data you have to optimize sooner. Most marketers have a wealth of data at their fingertips but think they lack the time to leverage it. But the truth is, you can’t afford to not use that data because it could save you time and money while yielding greater results sooner. One of the fastest, simplest and least expensive ways to "learn faster" and optimize sooner is to regularly conduct simple A/B split tests. A/B split tests can materialize in the form of subject line tests, offer tests or email template design tests wherein you randomly split your list in half and send each segment a different version of the email. Then you can read the results from the test and quickly make changes to future campaigns based on those results.

The bottom line is that 2011 can be the "year of the upturn" for marketers and companies alike. The key is knowing where to focus your resources to yield the greatest results sooner.