Email marketing is tough.  We all know the amount of email we get on an everyday basis so the idea of contributing to the clutter makes us all shiver.  There’s also a good deal of doubt about whether or not it actually works.

Unfortunately, advice and what works and what doesn’t is equally hard to find.  Not that people aren’t writing about it.  Far from it.  Email marketing is a huge topic online and free advice is easy to get.  But Marketing Sherpa reviewed and judged hundreds of email campaigns and announced winners in various categories.

Every category has a winner and two or three runners-up.  There are pdf’s to download that give a summary and then image of the actually email campaign.

What works?

It seems that simplicity, tracking, and follow-up carry the day.  It sounds obvious, but campaigns in various categories have very direct goals either to close sales or to sign up new users.  Or both. The point is, if you don’t have a specific goal, you probably aren’t going to get results.

Most of the campaigns resulted in enviable open rates: 45% – 70%!

It’s worth browsing though to find the type of companies and campaigns that fit your company.  There’s no secret formula here to grab — just designing campaigns based on specific goals.

Download samples from the winner here:  http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31524