Small businesses can see incredible benefits from relying on email marketing. This traditional online promotion technique is still alive and capable of helping you meet your goals on a limited budget.

There are certain things you need to do when starting and email marketing campaign, in order to increase the chance of reaching and engaging your target audience. Here are some rules of email marketing for small businesses.

Simplify the Subscription Process
People will subscribe if the process is user-friendly. There should be signup links on your homepage, your blog and your social media profiles. If people have to spend a lot of time searching for the link, they will never subscribe.

Welcome New Subscribers
A welcome email adds a nice touch and reminds people that they are now included in your mailing list. It can have a personalized message or a special offer that is available solely for new subscribers.

Choose the Right Format
Good newsletters are easy to scan when it comes to some email marketing campaigns. People can go through all of the headlines and the points you are trying to make, choosing to pay attention to the content that they like the most. The creative use of fonts and font sizes can direct the eye towards the most important parts of the email and help the audience navigate.

Brand Identity
Use design creatively. It should be functional and it should correspond to your brand identity. If you are trying to increase your popularity and boost loyalty through email marketing, this approach will be vitally important. Your corporate colors and your logo should appear in the beginning of the newsletter.

Your Content Plan
Email marketing is dependent on the creation of a solid content plan. Many small businesses overlook the importance of sharing something unique and something that makes going through the subscription process worth the effort. You could share special offers or information about upcoming campaigns exclusively through your newsletters.

Test Your Newsletter before Sending It
There are so many mail clients and the appearance of your newsletter will vary greatly across platforms. Test through as many popular mail clients, as you can. Make sure that the design looks equally attractive in all.

Mobile Audiences are Becoming More Important
Many people are going through marketing emails on mobile devices. Is your design suitable for viewing on a small screen? Choose responsive design that look good on all kinds of media.

Facilitate Email Sharing
Enable subscribers to forward the mail and facilitate social sharing. There could be a link to a web-based version of the newsletter, as well as social media links.

Always Look at Email Marketing Statistics
Look at the statistics and modify your campaign on the basis of the response that you get. The open rate and click through (CTR) rate are two of the important metrics. Identify patterns and try to understand which parts of your strategy succeed and which ones are failing miserably.

Stop Sending Marketing Emails for the Sake of Sending Them
You should be sending newsletters solely when you have something interesting to say. It is a nice idea to stick to a schedule but you should also be sensible about the value of each newsletter. Send something interesting, newsworthy and fun to read. Don’t waste the time of your subscribers and you will maximize the results of the campaign.