A test run can prevent the sending of poor email marketing to hundreds or thousands of list members. It allows you another chance to check links and ensure that the message is delivered the same it leaves your email software. Sometimes, unexpected results can occur when sending an email out without thorough checking. If you can include colleagues or close friends and family members in the test run then this allows for more eyes to check the message before it is sent in earnest.

A test run can help ensure that your emails are getting through spam filters and blacklists. Set up some free email addresses with the various free email hosts online because a lot of list members will use these addresses; even those with business domain accounts. Include these free email addresses in your test run as well as a few other select emails so that you can get a much clearer understanding of whether or not your email will make it to the majority of intended recipients.

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In terms of email marketing, viral marketing can prove highly effective and generates excellent returns on investment for your campaign. While you may send your email to a hundred people, if it goes viral then it may be read by hundreds of even thousands more people that you didn't even send the email to in the first place.

Viral marketing can be performed in a number of ways using various different forms of media. Chain letters were an attempt at viral marketing of one form, and many businesses invest good money in the creation of viral emails because they know just how effective one good viral marketing message can prove.

Viral marketing doesn't necessarily happen by accident, although it can. The provision of email content that is appealing or creates an emotional response in the reader will often lead to it going viral. Offer readers the chance to start the viral ball rolling by giving send to friends or bookmarking buttons within the content of the email. This makes it easier and less troublesome to forward the email and increases the likelihood that recipients will do so.

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In order to enjoy the best success in email marketing you need to try and ensure that you enjoy a good CTR rate. You won't enjoy good conversion levels unless you can get enough people to read your email and subsequently click through to your website. There are many factors that determine your eventual CTR but specifically you should consider how well targeted list members are and how effective the content of the email itself is. Also consider the links that you use, where they are placed, and always, always ensure that you test those links in a test run before sending to your entire list.

CTR is considered in the vast majority of marketing techniques, including email marketing. A high CTR will typically lead to positive email marketing results and, as long as your website is set up to convert visitors into profit, then you should also enjoy positive returns on investment. In contrast, a poor CTR will lead to little impact on your business except that you have probably invested money into email marketing that you won't get back.

For related information, please see our e-mail marketing CTR and links blog.

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The read rate is an important indication of several factors. You should consider bounced or undelivered emails separately, although realistically these will crop as being unread because the recipient will not have the opportunity to read the email. The most advantageous measurement of a read rate is the number of emails read compared to the number of emails sent and received.

Sending marketing communication by email is an effective way of getting your marketing message read because even a business related email Inbox is considered a personal place. A read email indicates that your message has made it past the spam filter and that the subject line of an email has proven intriguing enough to lead to the recipient opening it.

If you suffer a low read rate with your emails then consider that either the subject line is uninviting, that your emails are being blocked before they are opened, or that your list members are not targeted enough when compared to the subject of your email. Members have not had the opportunity to actually read your email when they open it so the majority of your concentration should be on these factors.

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Measuring the delivery rate can, at its most basic, be conducted using standard desktop email software as long as delivery receipts are enabled. However, this can throw up spurious results and for this reason, many email marketing services will use more advanced techniques of tracking the delivery rate.

When buying or renting lists, the delivery rate can help identify list sources that are effective and those that are less than effective. A consistently low delivery rate tends to mean that the list is either out of date or that list members have used false email addresses. Lists with high delivery rates are very desirable and can be worth the extra money to get them.

The delivery rate of an email marketing campaign is one measurable figure that should be tracked with every run of emails sent. While it is only one of many sets of data it is certainly one of the easiest and most beneficial to track with options ranging from the addition of tracking code to the use of email tracking software to help identify whether an email has been delivered properly or not (i.e. did it 'bounce'?).

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Acquiring an email list through a broker or directly through a list builder can have mixed results. While there are certainly genuine, high quality lists on the Internet that can prove extremely beneficial in email marketing there are an equally large, if not larger, number of poor email lists. A bad email list will have a high bounce rate for many reasons.

It is usual for at least a small number of emails to bounce during an email marketing campaign. Some list members provide inaccurate details either by accident or on purpose while other members will simply have changed email address or their server may be experiencing problems. Alternatively, you may be having your own difficulties using an ISP server or other outbound email server.

Always ensure that your emails are being delivered properly by including one or more of your own test email addresses. Some ISPs and other outbound email servers can struggle to cope with the load of email marketing campaigns and if this is the case then you need to act quickly to prevent all of your email marketing emails from bouncing.

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