You’ve heard of spam, but do you really know what it is? Even more important is knowing how to avoid the perception that your email marketing campaign is spam. If you’d like to learn how to create emails which market your products without being thrown into a junk folder, read on.

Do not send emails that were unsolicited. If you send emails to those who never signed up for them, they are likely to report your messages as spam. This not only hurts your reputation, but ISPs could end up blocking your emails if a lot of people complain about your unwanted emails.

If you buy a list of emails to send to, check and make sure it is up to date. Sometimes lists for sail might match your target demographics but be woefully out of date. The number of addresses now defunct can be as high as 25% of the overall list.

Test email formats. To make sure it gets the most attention, important information should always be in the top portion of your emails. However, it is important to experiment with different formats to see which ones are most effective. Once you have a short list of successful formats, continue to use them. This will help your customers know what to expect from you and know where to look for the information they want to read more about.

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.

Develop content that is interesting and informative to your customer base. The message should be engaging, and not filled with dry, boring content. The recipients are more likely to read it all the way through if it is not too long. As they see that your content is relevant, your reputation will grow.

Pay attention to the demographics within your subscriber base. See what content and links intrigued a particular segment of your audience, and then follow up with a new email to that subgroup. The boost in your response rate from peeling away the top layer will really surprise you, but in a delightful way.

Let customers know how to add your email address to their “safe sender list”. Many people do not know how to prevent certain emails from being sent to their spam folder. Inform them of how to prevent this from happening and encourage them to add you to their address book.

To avoid complications resulting from being identified as a spammer, notify your ISP of your email marketing intentions in advance. If any unhappy reader ever reports you, this will give your ISP the head’s up that your marketing efforts are legitimate. Your ISP may also be able to suggest an upgraded account that eases your email marketing operations.

You can create a targeted mailing list by having customers get their friends to sign up too. The reasoning is that their friends are probably interested in the same things as they are and trust a friend’s recommendation. Include a subscribe for the link in your emails so that customers can forward them to friends, helping your mailing list grow by leaps and bounds.

Include an audit memo on the follow-up emails that you send to your clients. Paste a link on your message that tells them to download this right now. The ending postscript could convince these clients that now is the time for them to experience success, and they can do so by following the link provided.

Make sure that the call to action in your messages is crystal clear. Featuring this element prominently dramatically increases the chances of a reader clicking on it and following through to your landing page. Even if they do not on a particular message, it will prevent them from getting soured on a jumbled message that does not seem to have a focal point.

You can target a very large group of potential customers by making your email campaigns accessible to mobile devices. So many people these days use mobile devices to check their email, you can make your emails attractive and engaging by using small images, and using small, to-the-point messages. Be sure to put your logo at the top of your email.

Do not depend on images too much. Images can enhance the look of an email; however, the information in your message should be readable, even if the images are not displayed. Many clients will disable images from new email senders for security reasons. You need to ensure that your message will come across clearly whether they see the images or not.

Try using holidays and important events to your advantage in your email marketing campaigns. For instance, if it’s Valentine’s Day, try incorporating things like candy, flowers, hearts and other related imagery or designs. Your readers should enjoy the creativity and festiveness of your messages around special times of the year.

Offering coupons through your e-mail marketing campaign is a great way to attract subscribers, and also track the success of your campaign. Everyone enjoys receiving discounts, and coupons can also be an effective way to generate sales that otherwise would not happen. Keeping track of how many of your coupon codes are redeemed can also help you determine the effectiveness of your e-mail marketing campaign.

Now that you know how to create a well-received email campaign which will bring your sales pitch to your target audience, go for it! Use all of the techniques you’ve read here and you’ll be well on your way to increasing profits and driving traffic to your site again and again.