Email marketing is probably one of the oldest online marketing methods to date but it is still a very effective tool if used correctly. I have seen some pretty poorly designed email campaigns and I have seen some really great campaigns as well. Here are some clearly defined don’t for your future email marketing campaigns.

1. Don’t Always Sell: You shouldn’t always be pushing a product to sell in your newsletter. People don’t always want to be hit with a sales ad.

2. Don’t Spam: Don’t just stuff any email address you get your hands on into your email list. make sure they are opt in email otherwise you might get some spam complaints.

3. Don’t Use Graphic heavy Emails: if you start putting flash banners and animated gifs in the email it might send them to people spam filter or even worse, they will open it and it will not look anything like it does on your computer at home. Then you got a branding problem.

4. Don’t Email Everyday: There are companies out there that I really enjoy hearing from but not everyday. A few times per week is fine but when I see an email everyday it really makes me want to unsubscribe.

5. Don’t Assume: Never make assumptions about how your recipient might react to your campaign. Look and analyze the numbers and plan accordingly.

First, let me say that you don’t have to do your newsletter all by yourself. You can use a service like Constant Contact If you do decide to use Constant Contact, let me know because I can get us both a $30 credit by referring a friend. I’ll send your e-mail address to Constant Contact and they will contact you. When you sign up for their service we’ll both be credited $30.