The Complete Guide to E-Mail Marketing by Bruce C. Brown

The Complete Guide to E-Mail Marketing by Bruce C. Brown is a practical “how to” book for small business professionals seeking to use e-mail marketing to reach their audience and boost their sales.

This book begins with a general history of the development of the internet and e-mail marketing. Brown then focuses on e-mail marketing and provides ideas for using it in combination with other marketing strategies such as direct mail and web advertising.

When properly executed, e-mail marketing is not spam. A summary of the Can Spam Act arms readers with confidence in implementing spam-compliant marketing campaigns. An important part of spam-compliance is ethical list-building that uses single or double opt-in as well as a clear offer to opt-out.

Brown provides tips for creating and growing your e-mail list. Proper targeting and segmenting of your list will help prevent people from unsubscribing. When customers opt-in to an e-mail list, give them what they expect if you want to keep them from unsubscribing.

Once your target market is identified, you must craft an effective e-mail. Brown provides tips on how to write an e-mail that will not be overlooked by subscribers and will boost click-through rates and result in increased sales. Special attention is paid to the subject line, as well as when e-mails should be sent, how often, and at what time of day.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important aspect to a successful e-mail campaign. Readers learn how to use their e-mail campaigns to boost SEO.

Extensive case studies and tips and advice from e-marketing industry experts provide readers with practical applications. The topics addressed in the case studies are varied enough that readers are sure to find at least one example that is directly applicable to a problem they face in their company.

Brown does an excellent job of summarizing information and providing the right balance of general and technical information. He gives readers enough information to understand what they do not know and he points them in the right direction to learn more. Readers should be aware that this book focuses heavily on small businesses with a B2C rather than B2B strategy. It also does not emphasize how to assess the effectiveness of an e-mail marketing campaign through use of web analytics.

Brown is a U.S. Coast Guard officer, small business owner, e-marketing consultant, web designer, and author of 7 books on various e-commerce topics. You can learn more about his books at his blog: http://ggwdblog.blogspot.com/.

If you are a novice in the field of e-mail marketing and you are looking for a reference book that will give you a step-by-step guide for implementing an e-mail campaign, then this is a book for you.