Most marketers are being challenged to grow their customer base and improve profitability of campaigns. Why are the cross-sell rates not as high as they should be? If you look at the number of customers they have versus the number of customers they can speak to, it’s a different number. For many clients we see that more than 50% of their customers are unreachable because of opt-outs.

One of the nice things about email is if you get it right it can be very effective.

-A well thought out on boarding process, which is not comprised of putting consumers into the hopper out of the gate, but instead listening first by collecting preferences. Ask consumers to update preferences so that they state what’s important and what they don’t find important. If you put this strategy in place it affects the frequency and relevance [of emails]. If I can only send one email this week or month, what email should that be?

-Ask your customers what they think might be relevant directly. That’s the best thing you can do to start that relationship.

-Get rid of long subject lines and make them focused.

-Do A/B subject line testing to increase the incremental open rates.

-Rethinking your opt-out strategy. When someone clicks unsubscribe, give them options and alternatives to opt out right in the landing page. Allow them to update preferences rather than just completing the opt-out. Make it easier for them to opt down rather than out.