FOR YEARS, EXPERTS have been pushing a simple solution for email overload: Use other programs. If your inbox is overflowing, they say, use more-specialized software to talk to your co-workers, such as a shared online work space where you can chat electronically without generating dozens of emails. Or just – heaven forbid-pick up the telephone.

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Since the inception of e-mail marketing, countless businesses have tried to make this communications platform harmonize with direct mail. Bringing the two together certainly made sense, but as many companies have discovered over the years, combining them is easier said than done.

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E-mail marketing continues to be one of the prime ways in which retailers promote their web sites. In an Internet Retailer survey this spring of online retailers, 68.3% reported that they are expanding their e-mail marketing activity much more or somewhat more this year over last. Only 13.2% said they are using e-mail less and 18.6% that they are using e-mail about the same amount. The reason so many are expanding their e-mail marketing is simple: It works.

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Having squabbles in the conference room about which checkout button is best? Or which product image to feature? Or is the debate about two different offers? Maybe it’s the lifestyle image, or possibly the header copy on your landing page? Instead of wasting time and resources guessing about things that used to seem subjective, just commit your campaigns to true online testing and optimization.

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Can there be targeted marketing without accurate information? I say no. From e-mail to direct mail, the need for sound list hygiene practices is not only ever-present, but ever-increasing. Why? For me, it comes down to the belief that a global list hygiene strategy is part and parcel of increasing relevance for the consumer…

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As marketers develop creative ways to maximlze ROI using existing customer lists to help offset increased postage and paper costs, e-mail appending offers a solution. Focusing on the quality, not the quantity, of your e-mail append can help make the most of this approach by leading to better response rates.

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PEOPLE WHO WANT to open email from patent attorney Andrew Currier have to know the drill. First, they must answer a predetermined question, such as “Where did we first meet?” If they answer correctly, they will then be allowed to view the contents of the email but they can’t alter it or forward it to anyone else.

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Are your e-mail recipients only seeing half of your subject line? Is your e-newsletter being flagged as spam? Here’s a handy guide to some of my favorite online sites and utilities that should help you in your e-mail and online marketing efforts. And, the good news is they’re all free.

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Does it surprise you that a substantial portion of your e-mail list is inactive? If you’re like most marketers, you’ll find between 25 percent and 40 percent of your list is not opening or clicking through on your messages. This group drags down the overall performance of your program, so it’s important to identify your inactives and create strategies that will re-engage them.

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It’s no secret. Every e-mail marketer knows spam and phishing pose the biggest challenge to getting legitimate e-mail into recipients’ in boxes today. In a recent report released by Austin, Texas e-mail service provider, Skylist, 72 percent of e-mail marketers responding to the company’s survey cited deliverability as their greatest challenge.

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