The success of your email marketing campaign is often based on a set of complex factors. However, a number of these issues can be proactively managed to ensure an optimized response. When developing your next email campaign, consider the following guidelines.

1. Your list.

Certainly one of the most important aspects of any email marketing campaign, your list is directly correlated to your success. Are your names recent? Have they agreed to be marketed to? Have they shown an interest in products or services similar to your own? Make sure that you are using a house list (names you collected on your own) or have beepurchasedes from a reputable broker.

2. Your subject line.

Getting a user to open your message is paramount to any email marketing campaign. The best way to determine the subject line that works best is to break your emails into three random yet equal groups. Measure the response to each email and use the highest-producing one as your control. For follow-up emails, try to beat the response rate of your control email.

3. Your sender information.

What information appears on the sender line of your email? Will your prospects recognize it? Do they want to hear from youOftentimeses, emails are deleted without ever being opened due to an indiscernible sender name. Your sender name should be brief and easily understood.

4. Track your results.

Tracking allows you to determine who opened your message and clicked on a link or multiple links within your email. By determining what worked and what didn’t, you can replicate succession in your next email. As described above, tracking is particularly important when testing subject lines embedded links and other direct response vehicles.

5. Make sure your unsubscribe method is in place and working. The CAN-SPAM act of 2003 requires that all email messages contain clear directions on how to output them from subsequent mailings. Provide an unsubscribe mechanism that allows those receiving your email to send you an email and indicate their desire to output from receiving further emails from you or your business. If recipients no longer want to hear from you, it’s in your best interest to remove them from your list.