For Mother's Day: Everything You Need to Know About Email Marketing, You Learned from mother

Tuck your shirt in. Clear your plate. Speak when spoken to. For most people, a mother's wisdom helped them navigate through life as a child and imparted values that still influence their actions today. As Mother's Day approaches, marketers would be wise to apply some of mom's lessons to their email marketing efforts. Everything you need to know about email marketing, you learned from your mother. The same wisdom that mom imparted to us as kids is applicable to how we manage our email programs today. SubscriberMail offers these lessons from mom, translated for email marketers:
Stand up straightThe way you carry yourself says a lot about the kind of person you are. The same is true in email marketing. Subscribers will judge your email based on what it looks like. The subject line should entice the recipient to open it. The gist of the email should appear "above the fold." Test your design in a preview pane with images both turned on and off before sending.
What if everyone jumped off a cliff?Would you do it, too? Following the crowd is tempting, but not always the right thing to do. When building an email list, follow the right path and build a list by asking permission. The best lists require double-opt in permission.
Mind your mannersNo one likes a rude kid. The same is true for email marketers who do not have good unsubscribe practices. Honor unsubscribes promptly and make it easy for subscribers to leave your list.
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at allMost kids need to learn to filter what they say. The same goes for email marketers. Sending an email without having anything relevant to say just isn't nice. Email only when you have meaningful content that is relevant to your subscribers.
Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that positionThis is one of mom's favorite sayings when she's tired of seeing your silly mug. Don't let your subscribers feel the same way. Sending emails too frequently can result in email fatigue, higher unsubscribes and fewer click-throughs.
Speak when spoken toNothing annoys a mom more than a child who doesn't acknowledge an adult. Subscribers feel the same way when they get the same email everyone else does. Use the customer data you have to personalize emails-even if it's just greeting someone by name.
Clean your roomCleanliness was important to mom, and it's important to ISPs too. Sending email to bad addresses and expired domains can result in ISPs blocking your email. Review your email list regularly. Fix typos and syntax errors and remove bad or bogus addresses immediately.
Finish your dinnerWhy take a plateful if you're not going to finish it? Likewise, why implement an email program if you're not going to pay attention to delivery? A few best practices can keep your email from being filtered to the junk file. Keep the "from address" consistent and from a recognizable person or company, use spell checker and avoid words that trigger spam filters.