Is your e-blast an e-dud?

Currently, 85% of all email is Spam. That means that your email marketing needs to fight hard to keep from being deleted or sent to a junk mail box. Frankly, there aren't a lot of e-blasts I've seen that really compel me to read through them. The best emails are sent to me from businesses or organizations that are relevant to me. I can tell you without reservation that I wouldn't be interested in an email from someone offering me a hunting lodge to rent in Wisconsin (true scenario). But expedia.com has me figured out, and when they send me a promotion for a weekend in NYC, I open it. They know I've traveled there before, using their Web site to make a reservation. That's what "relevant" is all about.

As marketers, our goal isn't "how many people can I possibly send my message out to?"—it's "how do I target my e-blast to a very narrow and specific group of interested people?"

One tip: don't forget to put the most compelling information in the top horizontal third of your blast, since 60% of business email users now use a preview pane to view their email.