In many ways, spam, identity theft, poorly executed programs and technological progress have taken the bloom off of the email rose. But those who claim email is dead overlook one important thing: email works. More importantly, people actually enjoy receiving emails when they deliver the goods, so it’s critical yours do exactly that. Believe it or not, there’s an art to putting a successful email program together:

• Start with your prospects. What are your programs to drive growth? What percent of your subscriber base is inactive? What are your plans to re-engage with them? Remember, growth should outpace attrition. Try sending an annual survey to understand what your subscribers hope to get from your program — just make sure you incentivize it. For example, sweepstakes are easy and will drive higher engagement.
• Focus on simplicity. A simple subject will draw an audience, and your subject line will be the gatekeeper. Are you setting yourself apart from the dozens of other unopened emails waiting in their inbox? A general rule of thumb is to keep it short, simple and direct. Subject line testing is fairly easy to implement. Experiment with various types of subject lines (offer-driven, solution-driven, humorous, etc.) and measure response rates to see which is more effective.
• Personalize your emails. This always improves performance. Think creatively outside of just “first name” — what data do you have in your database that might speak to users on a more personal level? Does your website allow for “Saved Cart” capabilities? If so, send an email to those customers that abandon theirs. Make it personable. Show an image of the item or items they have in their cart.
• Be thoughtful. Don’t forget to send out a birthday greeting, wish them a happy anniversary or just say thanks. Seemingly little acknowledgements can go a long way.
• Remember emerging channels. People use their phones and social networks for communication now more than ever, so make sure your messages are optimized for them. Find out from your ESP who is reading emails on their mobile devices. Then take your strategy there. Do you have last-minute offers that would be relevant for mobile devices? What are you doing with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? How will you use them to drive email opt-ins? If you fold these issues in now, your email program will be more than just relevant to your audience — it’ll be indispensable.

Thanks to Liz Brown Bullock for contributing valuable insight to this article.