When was the last time you went a day (or even an hour) without checking your email? While you’re scrolling through unread business messages, you most likely stumble upon various ads filled with tempting sales or intriguing information, distracting you from the task at hand.

This is the genius of email advertising -- With targeted marketing, frequent communication, little overhead costs and measurable results, email marketing is a worthwhile option for any business looking to stay on top of their game.

There is a lot of conversation surrounding this topic but if you take away one main point, everything else can follow: Content is king. The design of your template or how clever your subject line is does not rival engaging your readers. Keeping them hooked requires 3 things…reaching the right people with the right information at the right time. There’s a difference between interesting content and content that provokes subscribers to immediately share it with their own network so the trick is finding that gray area and adding your own color.

Start with 7 tips for smart email content:

• Know your customer: Take the time to understand your customer interests and needs. Doing research on your subscriber’s demographic and appealing to that is first and foremost when it comes to creating successful campaigns. This encourages them to engage with you, claim an offer or hopefully, share it with other potential clients.

• Use your knowledge: Focus on your experience and background to continuously teach them something new.  Not all information has to be organic…it is acceptable and even encouraged to look to other “experts” in your field to brainstorm and branch off. As long as your citing your sources or adding your own spin, this is a great tactic for keeping things fresh.

• Tailor the content: When you’re creating, don’t forget the power of authentic images and videos to generate intrigue. Our in-house graphic design team works very hard to create unique designs that fit with our brand’s personality (a little quirky, a little playful and a lot of hard work) so hopefully our readers can identify the source without even checking who it’s from. Keep the content true to your brand and the mission behind it.

• Q&A: Think of 3 questions you regularly get asked by clients and write them down. Develop content based around these questions and address them on a regular basis. As you gain new readers, re-work previous emails to evolve your content and tailor it for various audiences.

• Humor Us: Allow your content to be fun as long as it remains tasteful. Think about your industry and what’s currently trending, unique or controversial and don’t be afraid to integrate these topics into your copy. Unlike other forms of information sharing (press releases, white papers, etc.) email blasts give you more wiggle room to keep things light.

• Your theme song: People like something they can count on so start a weekly series focusing on a core piece of your business. This is a simple way to build your audience and keep them coming back. For example, we do a “Testimonial Tuesday” series as a way to showcase our new exhibit designs and at the same time, spotlight a client of ours. Another idea is a “5 things Friday” series where you feature five different tips every week so your readers can look forward to continued information.

• Testing 1, 2, 3: Divide your email database into three groups and send the same email on 3 different days/times. See which open rate was the best to figure out best day to send. By running these experiments, you can better understand what kind of subject lines, calls to action and content work best for pleasing your audience.