Sending out mass emails sounds like a simple concept, but how does one go about marketing their business via email, without wasting time and money and becoming a source of irritation to unwilling recipients? And more importantly, how does one make sure that emails are effective and don't simply get sent to the recycle bin?

Most companies will have their own in-house email lists, captured from their own customer base and website visitors. But if you are wanting to extend your market further to those who don't know about your company, your first port of call would be to rent email addresses from an opt-in list.

What is an opt-in list? To opt-in is to give your permission for your email addresses to be used by advertisers to market to you. "Opt-out", on the other hand, assumes your permission by lack of your negative response, and markets to you via email unless you specifically request your address to be removed. Opt-in lists are therefore far more professional and definitely a better way to make a good impression.

So where does one start? E-Commerce consultant Dr. Ralph Watson (watsonweb.com) suggests that there are ten steps that you need to consider when implementing a successful email marketing campaign:

1. What are your objectives?
Think about what you want to get out of your email campaign. Be specific - think of exact numbers you want to reach and your desired response. This will help you to determine how successful your campaign has been.

2. Who are your target recipients?
Consider the demographics and interests of your target market and make a note of these. This will aid your list manager or broker in selecting appropriate lists for your campaign.

3. Calculate your Return on Investment
Opt-in email lists can be costly, therefore it is important that you consider your return on investment prior to your campaign. Do your numbers and make some estimates. To increase your return, consider ways of increasing your click-through and conversion rate, for example, through special offers. It is important therefore to first test your campaign on a small scale to see what works, before fine-tuning it and launching the full-scale drive. If your numbers show that opt-in lists will work out too costly, consider developing your own permission-based list through co-promotions and competitions. This will substantially reduce your costs.

4. Hire a list broker or list manager to acquire a list
Your list broker or manager will question you on the above, so make sure that you have all the information on hand. List managers and brokers work in different ways. A manager will help you to choose the relevant characteristics to help you choose a list, while a broker deals with the manager to obtain the lists. If dealing in two different lists, it is a good idea to use a broker, who will contact both managers and cross check both lists for duplications, so that recipients don't get irritated by multiple emails.

5. Consider the quality of the lists
Once you have selected a list, do a test run on 2500 to 5000 names to track the response. This will help you to determine what lists will and what lists won't work for you. It does, however, cost money to do a test run, so first double check that it is in fact an opt-in list. Ask the list manager for the names and URLs of the website from where the names came from, and check them out for yourself.

6. Develop the email creative
The email creative is the email message formatted to send out, including text and layout. Consider hiring an experienced copywriter to write your text - the wording can determine the success - or failure - of your campaign, so leave it to the experts. The same goes for layout - a competent website designer will ensure that the HTML portion of the email is creative and artistic while being easy on the eye. Finally, once your email is fully prepared, think about the subject line - this can be considered to be the most important part of the email. It determines whether the email is opened or sent straight to the bin. Again, leave this to the experts.

7. Prepare for the email send-off
The email send-off is officially known as the "email blast". Prior to the blast a small test emailing goes out to the list owner, the manager, the broker and the advertiser - the final email before the send-off. Now is the time to check and check again - make sure that there are no errors and that all the links work. Approve and sign off.

8. Design and test your landing page
This is where the links will click through to. The email and the landing page go hand-in-hand, so consider hiring the same copywriter for both. The landing page must relate to the email, restate the offer, answer any questions, and of course, make the sale.

9. Blast off!
Having tested everything from the lists to the landing page, it is time to blast - but when? Research shows that Mondays and Fridays don't work, so stick to the days in between, when people's minds are focused on work and not the weekend!

10. Finally, determine effectiveness
Once the email has gone out, click-throughs are tracked - study these reports to see who is clicking on what so see what works. The success of your campaign, however, is not determined by click-throughs, but of course, on sales. Consider investing in software that will enable you track both click-throughs and resulting sales.

An email marketing campaign requires a lot of planning and perseverance. Keep testing the market to see what works and fine-tune until you've got it right. Start small and build up - you will get better at it. Remember - email marketing might just be the boost you need to "blast" your online business to success!

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