Today, email marketing is one of many elements that businesses can use to successfully market their services or products. Entire campaigns can be turned out electronically and are usually done so in unison with other marketing techniques. The presence of spam has made email marketing more difficult, with many emails falling through the proverbial cracks and not being delivered to their intended targets due to a number of circumstances, ranging from very secure email filters designed to weed out spam to heightened awareness and diligence by the user. Indeed, spam has made the majority of users much more security conscious than ever before and as a result being able to successfully market via email is more of a challenge than it has ever been.

Nevertheless, email is a very effective type of marketing on the internet and can provide businesses with yet another possible avenue to create awareness and in turn increase revenue. Let's look at some of the things you can do to ensure that your email is going to reach its intended recipient and in turn, how you can make your email marketing efforts both effective and rewarding.

When sending out emails to all of your established contacts, be sure to use your opt-in list as a reference in case any of your mail is returned or blocked as spam. An opt-in list is a list of clients or customers who have given their permission to receive information from your business. People know who you are and most likely have your email address in their address books or directories, so your email is getting to whom it is supposed to with little to no obstructions or difficulty. Keep your client or customers email addresses and other contact info up to date and be sure to eliminate duplicate entries, if your clients and customers start receiving duplicate messages with sales announcements or offers they may simply regard it as spam and as such all further messages from you risk being automatically relegated to the spam - ie: unread and ignored - file. Using contact management software is a very useful way to avoid issues like these, if your business does not already manage contacts with a specified application it would be wise to investigate this.

Now, on the subject of spam, it is very important to ensure that none of your messages, when read, could be interpreted as spam. This is actually quite simple to achieve and ties somewhat into the points mentioned above. Be honest - send the kind of information that you promoted when your clients and customers initially signed on to your mailing list. When they initially became contacts and agreed to be included in your email list you likely indicated at that time what future emails from your business would entail - upcoming sales, press releases concerning new products or services, tips, etc - make sure that is exactly what you deliver each and every time. Any abuse of this will damage your reputation and legitimacy in the long run.

Many first time email marketing campaigns can be poorly received, this can be attributed to many intangibles - website design, poorly conceived landing pages, timeliness of the service or product you're offering - but more often than not, it is the message itself that is the problem. Common sense is your friend here: don't use all caps in the subject line, use concise paragraphs, send messages from an address that can be replied to, always use spelling and grammar checks before sending mass email, make sure that deadlines or special circumstances are communicated effectively, use call to action words and phrases to generate interest, avoid sending gimmicky pictures or links in an attempt to come across as humorous or pop-culture savvy and always make sure there is an option provided for the recipient to unsubscribe from the mailing list.

Use the information and tips here to ensure your email marketing campaign is as relevant to your clients and customers as it is profitable for you and your business.