The web is the world’s fastest growing medium and taking advantage of the internet is a must in today’s fast paced world of marketing and public relations.

Blogs, search and social media all contribute to this new multi-directional communication pattern but email is still the glue that holds it all together, the commonality in the web 2.0 world.  Whether you subscribe to an RSS feed, get a direct message from you Facebook friend, or post a message on a blog, your inbox is where information finds you and your email address is the currency you use when you navigate the web.

You can’t afford to ignore this powerful medium so you need to look for ways to maximize its effectiveness and make it work for you. But that’s not always as easy as it sounds. The inbox is an increasingly busy place, “spam” is largely in the eye of the beholder, and roughly 20% of permission based emails don’t make it to the inbox.

So how do you ensure your emails are effective in communicating your message? Pay attention to the 6 keys to emails success: content, list, design, testing, delivery, cross-pollination and metrics.

• Content is still king so make sure each email is full of information your recipients will truly value.
  
  
• “Junk in, junk out” as they say so make sure your list is well targeted and tidy.
  
  
• Professional looking design can make the difference between whether you’re email is appreciated or seen as spam so make sure you look good in the inbox (even with images blocked).
  
  
• None of this matters if your email doesn’t get delivered, so keep on top of the complex design and content based delivery rules (or, if you’re a PWR client, let us do that for you!)
  
  
• To know if your email will get delivered and your design will render well, test, test, test before you send.
  
  
• Don’t forget to cross-pollinate your various digital platforms by linking to your blog and social media sites from your emails, for example. And be sure to invite those readers and friends to join your list.
  
  
• Pay attention to your metrics to be sure you’re trending in the right direction or make needed adjustments if you’re not.
  

As our many clients know, we are true email geeks here at PWR so we’re always happy to chat about best email strategies and practices, design eye-catching professional emails that will render well across systems, or simply discuss what fluctuating metrics might mean for your brand.