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2. Take your email strategy off autopilot

Before you think about what you want the outcome of each email campaign to be, think about what you want to do with your overall email marketing program. What's important? Do you want to drive sales? Increase brand awareness? Engage your audience? Are you using email to populate your social media channels? Or are you trying to accomplish all of the above? Each of these initiatives has a very different strategy and a single email template won't produce results in every area. Know what you want to accomplish before getting started.

Next, look at your current strategy to identify your biggest challenges. MarketingSherpa's^vi 2010 Email Marketing Benchmarking report includes the chart on the right that shows the top challenges email marketers are facing. (Click on the chart to read an excerpt from the study.) In past years email deliverability held the top spot, but as more companies become certified senders and follow other best practices it is becoming less of an overall concern in the marketplace. Be sure your strategy is updated regularly to include solutions to your biggest issues.

Finally, talk to your ESP to learn how it helped other companies overcome similar issues. Your ESP can build customized solutions that will increase your results. If you are simply using an ESP to send email blasts to your entire list - STOP! That isn't a strategy; that is an annoyance. ESPs like Listrak offer consulting and professional services, including design and content creation, dynamic message assembly, engagement tactics, split testing, and results analysis - everything you need to get the most out of every email you send. A small investment will yield high returns. Pay closer attention to your email strategy and your results will go through the roof.