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The double opt-in, while it may sound a bit like an intermediate ice-skating jump, is in fact a key part of the best email marketing services. Allowing people to opt in to a newsletter is already more than good manners- it is what prevents your newsletter from being (not just being labeled, but actually being) spam. Does that mean if you're switching from a plain text newsletter to HTML email marketing templates and professional distribution that you need to ring up each client and ensure they want to remain on your email list? No, that is not the case- if people are already happily receiving emails from you, then it's all well and good. If anything, using email marketing software that provides an easy link for them to unsubscribe from your newsletter will decrease the likelihood that your newsletter will be labeled as spam in an attempt to have it filtered out of their inbox.

No, the glory of the double opt-in applies to new readers and potential recipients of your newsletter. Once they've signed up for your newsletter, whether on a website, in person or in any other way, they will receive an initial email asking them to confirm this. Why is this an important step? One, it prevents mistakes from being made- typos or errors in entering an email address could result in your sending email to the incorrect address. Secondly, it reminds them that they have asked to receive your free email marketing newsletters. They might then go ahead and add you to their address book to ensure your newsletters don't get caught by their spam filters, if they have employed this feature of their email service. It also creates familiarity with your email address so that when your emails do arrive, they recognize them for what they are.

Every now and then it is a good idea to take a long hard look at your email marketing strategy along with the basic layout of your HTML email marketing templates. There is a lot to be said for familiarity and consistent branding so that your customers feel secure when they recognize your branding in your email marketing newsletters. However, there does come a time when people stop paying attention because they become too familiar with the layout, colors, and special offers. They stop really reading and barely give the email a thorough scan.

The first step would be to look at your recent stats to see if there has been a gradual but steady drop off in open rates and click-throughs. And how about the last super deal you just offered? How was that rated in relation to your other free email marketing newsletters? Did people respond or were your open rates pretty flat? You should have seen at least a ten percent rise in opens and more click-throughs, at least with that killer deal you offered. If you didn’t get the response that you were hoping for it may be time to consider a newsletter face lift and rework your email marketing best practices.

To really grab the attention of your customers, a well designed banner can’t be emphasized enough. The banner or header for your email marketing newsletter is the first thing that is viewed in the inbox reading pane – and is your ultimate first impression – so make it count.

However, sometimes just a change of the basic layout of your HTML email marketing template from a left to right column or switch it up entirely and consider a one column layout with at least one high quality image with each article or sale offering. And don’t forget the all important call to action – make it prominent and properly linked. With a bit of time and creativity, updating and improving your email marketing newsletters will go a long way to rejuvenate online sales.

When you use web-based email marketing software that allows email tracking so that you can see who received your emails, who opened them, and who clicked through you are taking advantage of the email marketing services that you're paying for. Part of learning your way around your email marketing template is creating rich content that will interest your readers. You also need to learn what not to say for the sake of spam filters. It's true, you might be having a free giveaway for the first fifty newsletter recipients to respond, but if you aren't careful how you word that, you might find that your emails are landing in the spam boxes instead of the inboxes of your readers. This is because you've used words that triggered their email provider or ISP's spam filter.

Words to avoid:

• Free
• Congratulations
• Risk free
• Order now
• Dear Friend
• Money-back guarantee
• (Absolute) satisfaction guarantee
• !!! (multiple exclamation marks are usually poor choice and not just grammatically)

Any of the "act now and you won't be disappointed" phrases that are common marketing lingo should be avoided for this reason. It is also quite reasonable to avoid using the phrases for reasons of readability, although that is entirely a different matter.

It is only right that your web-based permission email marketing software should be used to help promote your business, and that your content be written to show your business in a positive light. That being said, almost nobody signs up for a free email marketing newsletter in order to receive a sales pitch packed full of superlatives. If you are littering your communication with words like unparalleled, maximum, optimum, ultimate, and unsurpassed, then you sound pompous, heavy-handed and more than likely people are dismissing these claims out of hand. After all, wouldn't you want some hard facts if somebody told you they were the fastest runner in the word or that they had written more plays than any living playwright?

This is what your readers, clients and potential partners are looking for from you: actual facts. Information they can use. If you are going to tell them something, actually give them the numbers- show them what is possible. Can you offer them the fastest possible increase in traffic to their website, or can you tell them that a majority of your clients see a 35% increase after the first three months of work? Will your tomato seeds produce the most delicious fruits every time without fail, or do you have a 99% germination rate and an award-winning variety?

The key here isn't just honesty- it is awareness of how you sound when you're delivering your message. We've all encountered sleazy sales pitches, so ask yourself if you're using the kind of words you might find in those before you click the send button. The delete key might just be you new best friend.

In the hustle and bustle of today's society, it seems that time has almost sped up. People expect to be able contact other people almost instantaneously. Gone are the days when correspondence took place over a period of months, people are now wearing their cell-phones and available during all the waking hours of their day. Many more are using social networking sites to communicate- both for personal information reasons and for networking and event promotion. Many businesses offer a free email marketing newsletter simply as a way to keep themselves in the loop of what people take in each day.

HTML email marketing templates have come a long way over the past few years, and you can now have a completely custom template made that will create a sort of brand-recognition for your company- something that is more valuable than ever in a world so overpopulated with choices. If you've taken a look at web-based email marketing software before and been unsure, consider this: not only will you be sending out newsletters to your email list, but you can also have those newsletters uploaded to the web. Then, you can link to that newsletter through Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media that you use thus vastly broadening the scope of potential viewers that your newsletters will have.

If you are sending out a free email marketing newsletter on a regular basis then you're well on your way to establishing a healthy line of communication via your email marketing services. One thing that often works well is to have seasonal content in newsletters that helps the reader to feel like what they are reading is up to date and relevant. You don't need to be selling seasonal products or services to relate the content, or simply the look and feel, of your newsletter to the seasons.

Consider some of the HTML email marketing templates that you chose from when creating your newsletter. Of, perhaps you have a custom-made template that you had made for you. Either way, you likely have a header and spaces for images. There are two main ways to create a slightly different look and feel to your newsletter while still being recognizable enough that all your readers know what they are looking at each time they open the newsletter.

The first way is to leave the format of your newsletter the same, changing only a single element such as the image in your header. This works especially well if your header includes a title in front of an image- that way the name- the first thing that a reader sees- is still there, but the "theme" of the newsletter is set by the picture. Changing that picture from a snowy landscape in winter to flowering bulbs in spring is one example, but even just changing the colors to reflect the season- from greens and blues in summer to oranges and reds in fall, for example.

The second way is to tie in one of your articles or blurbs to the season, including a picture that is representative for your message. For example, necessary car maintenance for winter, reasons to change your diet seasonally, special holiday offers, and other such topics work well. When you do this, you create a call to action with a time-line, and best of all, that time-line won't seem to have been imposed by you, but rather, it will just be the way things are, and you'll be the messenger delivering pertinent information.

Email marketing newsletters are by far the least intrusive, yet the most effective method of reaching thousands of subscribers. Marketers have known for years and battled the reality that cold calls, in most cases, are intrusive and direct mail usually ends up in recycle bins unopened. Yes, free email marketing newsletters can end up in the digital trash as well, but unlike printed media, the number of email newsletters that weren’t opened can be identified using some of the best email marketing services available today.

To better ensure that your free email marketing newsletters will be opened and read by your subscribers there are a few steps that should be taken. The first and maybe the most important is to make sure your company or organization is clearly identified in their inbox list of incoming emails ideally in both the “from” address and the subject line (if it works well- depending on the content of the newsletter). This helps subscribers recognize that this email is from a trusted source. And if you are using web-based permission email marketing software your subscribers have requested your email marketing newsletters. You don’t want them deleting what they clearly wanted to receive because they didn’t recognize who or where the message was coming from.

The next step you should take for better open rates and participation is to spend a bit of time crafting the all-important subject line. And while you’re at it, research the latest words that major email services are routinely filtering and blocking. Some of the most common of these are: Buy now; Free anything; click here; money-back guarantee; other phrases of undue urgency; and anything written in all caps. Of course some of these may get through, but most people who use email regularly are wary of these subject lines as well and may or may not click the delete button even before reading your email marketing newsletter. To create a winning subject line, consider what introduction would entice you to read a newsletter- surely you receive enough of these yourself, so the next time you review your email inbox pay attention and make note of the best subject lines and follow your instincts in creating your own.

Now that you have properly identified yourself to your subscribers and written a well-crafted subject line it’s time to move on to your content. One of the most common mistakes that email marketing newsletter editors make is to include too much text or content for each subject included. Most people, no matter how engaging the subject may be, just don’t have time to sift through paragraph after paragraph of text. Learn how to write your article titles like the email’s subject line – engage, entice, and intrigue with a clever title and then a teaser intro with a link to read more -- this is for an informational article. Always include a quality image for products you are offering with links to purchase, a short description, price and if on sale, how much the subscriber will save if they take advantage of your offer. And last but by no means least, double and triple check all links in your email marketing newsletter. The last thing you want after all your hard work is to have dead or misdirected links.

Once upon a time, sales and marketing analysts were relegated to the back rooms of office suites, huddled over mounds of paper, calculators and pencils as they compiled and integrated pages of data that in the end may or may not have told them which, if any, of their marketing efforts were bringing them return on the money spent. That once upon a time is now a distant and unhappy memory with the new day of online marketing.

Now, marketing professionals are able to access a tidal wave of data or metrics to work with. Consumer behavior can now be measured across all touch points from click-through rates; page views; and open, conversion, and abandon rates. And what more and more of these sales gurus are finding is that email marketing newsletters, unlike print, radio, or television marketing is easily tracked and provides the kind of metrics needed to successfully plan and execute new brand promotions with ease.

Tracking is just the beginning, however. The bottom line is still revenue streams and profit, which they are finding when they employ HTML email marketing newsletter templates for the launch of a product. The metrics will be provided real-time and allow them to modify content and target new and emerging markets with less effort and much less money spent going in the wrong direction.

Email marketing best practices can also be modified and improved to reflect customer participation on the fly. Subscriber and customer interest categories can be honed, content, sales and special offers customized overnight, and sent out in minutes to thousands of users -- a process that used to take months.

Offering free email marketing newsletter sign ups on a website provide the base for sales analysts. By asking for and offering incentives for completing sign up forms, marketers are able to find out what geographic regions their subscribers come from along with a whole range of other information. Using the best email marketing services allow any business to gather a variety of information securely and in turn provide efficient and economical metrics that get results.

Whether an email marketing newsletter is sent to subscribers domestically or internationally, readers can be engaged using the new media options that enhance brands and build trust with customers. What is now being called “audience development” entails many aspects for marketing professionals and now more than ever these can be seamlessly incorporated into free email marketing newsletters.

The production and distribution cost savings of using html email marketing newsletter templates for digital communications may have been the original motivation. However, the advances in multimedia integration that web-based permission email marketing solutions provide are now becoming the first and not the second reason for choosing this method of marketing.

Marketing and sales managers are also finding that increased revenue, tracked with real-time reporting and verified by comparing customer data is contributing to the overall growth and profits. This is due in part to the inclusion of pop-up windows that allow the reader to instantly view video, listen to audio as well as e-commercial presentations. And when using double opt-in subscriber systems, users are no longer wary of clicking links, which contributed early-on to low click-through rates and customer participation.

Companies are also finding that adhering to email marketing best practices of CAN SPAM compliance, subscribers are more willing to encourage friends, family and co-workers to sign up to their favorite email marketing newsletters so they too can take advantage of online only money-saving offers. These are just a few of the benefits of using free email marketing newsletters alongside other trusted marketing tools.

Reach your customers in minutes with no technical expertise needed. First, select a professional html email newsletter template from a web-based email marketing company that will catch your subscriber's attention. And with a well-crafted call to action receive an immediate response to your offer or request for participation.

By using an email marketing company that understands the needs of their clients you will stand out from your competition- and even if you are a small business will look like one of the pros.

Use the power of tracking for your newsletters in real time using the best email marketing company's reporting features. You will be able to see who responds and when, which will also give you a better idea of when to send your email marketing newsletters for better response time and actions.

Keep the lines of communication open on a regular basis. Not all of your free email marketing newsletters have to be about sales. Email marketing best practices includes the advice to take some time and effort to keep your customers and new subscribers informed about your company or organization's community relationship. How do you contribute to your employees and your community's needs and special interests.

Saving money is always a plus, and you can reach more of your customers quicker, easier and much more economically than with any other form of marketing communication - bar none.