When it comes right down to it, email marketing is all about getting the basics right. Best Practices for email marketing helps you get the most out of your effort.

Yes, you need to segment your lists and yes, you should upgrade your transaction emails, but every email marketer also needs to invest time in big picture strategies like positioning, voice, value and conversion optimization. The tips below may seem basic, but you’ll find many at the core of the best email marketing campaigns out there.

Best Practices for Email Marketing

Objective is to ensure your Email  leaves an impact.

1) Best practices for email marketing – Show that you Care
Your email subscribers are getting dozens, if not hundreds, of other emails every day. They are constantly being asked to start a free trial, download an e-book or follow someone on Twitter.

There’s an overwhelming amount of noise in the inbox. Showing your users that you care goes a long way towards earning their trust. Squarespace, for example, takes a friendly approach to urgency. False emergencies – “LAST DAY TO SAVE!!!” – comes off as desperate. Squarespace acknowledges the reality of our busy lives and offers a chance for an extended trial.

2) Best practices for email marketing – Get Personal
“Only strong people are comfortable talking about their failures.” – Hayes Drumwright, CEO of Trace3 (a $300 million company)

Email is a good opportunity to humanize your brand. The inbox is an intimate place, mostly used for personal conversation. Your presence there is a privilege, so do your best to write like a human. It’s okay to talk about challenges, obstacles, and even failures. Readers can relate since they are likely facing similar situations with their own lives and businesses.

In the email below, Noah Kagan discusses a very personal conversation he had with a friend about his blog. How many marketers have ever felt overwhelmed with their work? All of them!

The post goes on to offer some ways to deal with the challenges of growing a blog. Identifying a pain point, then offering a solution is an age-old strategy that’s still effective today.

3) Best practices for email marketing – Make people happy
Generosity is one of the most overlooked email marketing tactics.

It’s not that hard to make people happy. How many assets do you have that you could use to make an email recipient’s day a little brighter? If you aren’t ready to give something away, simply say something nice, tell an uplifting story or just ask how they are.

This email from Gazelle is a great example of a transactional email with a marketing twist. Gazelle owes me $94, so it’s going to be easy to make me happy, but they took the time build excitement into the email. The subject line – “Your happy email is here!” – would catch anyone’s attention and the bold treatment of the dollar amount reinforces just how valuable this email is.

Notice, also, that they included a referral link and a one-question survey. This is how transactional emails are done.

4) Best practices for email marketing – Go for small wins
Your business – and every business for that matter – is powered by small wins. Marketers often ask for too much from potential customers. Big wins like conversions and upgrades are earned over time. Don’t be surprised when you ask your email subscribers to upgrade and only 0.001% convert. Instead, think about building momentum. Asking subscribers to read a blog post or follow you on Twitter is a bigger deal than you think. And though it’s a small win, it’s a step in the right direction.

5) Best practices for email marketing – Say Thanks
Saying “thank you” – sincerely and with heart – feels good. Not just to the person receiving it, but also to the person offering it. And that’s part of work too. It’s hard to remember, as we process our hundredth email, that behind each message is a person.

Live Stats shows how the active email users are increase every seconds. Live Internet Stats