How to Make Email Marketing Profitable in 2014

Every once in awhile you'll see some wizened expert come up with the pronouncement that “email marketing is dead.” And predictably, after every instance, email marketing is mysteriously soaring to never before reached heights. So what gives?

The fact is, email is far from dead, and in fact is much more robust than ever. There will always be changes that come along and scare everyone (witness the Gmail tabs brouhaha a couple of months ago!) but the fact is email is still kicking it!

A few bright shiny email marketing statistics!

According to ExactTarget:

• 95 percent of people who buy online are email users.
• Email marketing returns $44.25 for every $1 spent!
• By 2017 we will have an astounding 236 million email users.

So how do you make the most of all this potential audience?

Below are 5 Email Marketing Tips.

1. Create a plan specifically for email marketing – Determine what your audience is interested in, plan your email marketing lists both to appeal to those needs, and address your site's overall conversion goals at the same time. This means take the time to think this out!
2. Optimize for mobile devices – It's no longer a secret: 43 percent of all emails get opened on a mobile device, and that number is increasing. You must optimize your emails for mobile, (images, text and brevity) and make it easier to engage.
3. Pay attention to your subject lines! – The first and only goal of your subject line is to get them to open the mail and read what comes next. And keep it brief: a study by Adestra indicates that subject lines of less than 10 characters are opened a whopping 58 percent more!
4. Use visual content within your emails – Even though you may be most proud of what you are saying, it's the videos and the images that get your readers excited. Open rates are nearly double with videos, and conversions are higher also!
5. Use social media to spread the word and expand your reach – Be sure to take full advantage of social media to help your emails reach a larger audience.