With everyone’s attention focused on the latest social media trends, many have all but forgotten about the original social network: email. Email marketing is an essential part of any integrated marketing campaign. It’s inexpensive and effective, allowing any size business to reach a large number of consumers at a rate of pennies.

While many things make an email marketing campaign effective, there are certain essentials that every campaign must have to be successful.

1. 1. Responsive Template Design: It’s critical to build a template that your subscribers can view from anywhere. Your design should adjust for easy reading based on the type of device or email platform a subscriber is using. For example, email text should get bigger on a smart phone so subscribers don’t have to zoom in.
   2. HTML Text: Not all email clients show images automatically. Optimize your emails for images-off viewing using ALT text and HTML text. ALT text is used to tell your subscribers what’s depicted in an image they may not be able to see. HTML text, or live text, is copy entered as HTML code to ensure subscribers see it no matter what. Don’t put the bulk of your copy in an image.
   3. Opt-In / Opt-Out Process: Make opting-in or out of your emails easy for subscribers. On your opt-in form, only include 2-4 fields for subscribers to fill in. If you want to collect more details, you can always include a link in your template to easily allow subscribers to update and add additional information to their profile. Opting-out should be just as easy. Include an unsubscribe button in every email. Making it difficult to unsubscribe won’t help you keep active subscribers. It will only hurt your sender reputation.
   4. List Scrubbing: All email marketing campaigns must have good list hygiene to keep a positive reputation. Remove inactive email addresses, unsubscribes and hard bounces from your send lists regularly. Keep an eye on your soft bounces to see if they need purging as well.
   5. Automated Emails: Marketing automation could set your campaign apart from your competitors. Automated emails are set up based on specific triggers or information. Welcome emails can be sent when a new subscriber signs up. This is your first impression to new subscribers, so make it a good one. It also encourages new subscribers to engage with you right off the bat. Automated emails based on informational triggers such as birthdays or anniversaries can also be set up to make your subscribers feel a special, personal connection with your brand.
   6. Reporting & Analytics: Behind every good email marketing campaign is solid reporting and strong analytics. Continuously monitor your campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not. Define the goals of your email marketing campaign and track the metrics so you can see if you are meeting those goals.

These tips are just to get you started. Email marketing can be as simple or as complex as you’d like to make it. Stay tuned as we continue to share more email marketing tips and tricks.

Taco Bell first partnered with Doritos in early 2012 to promote a new menu item – the Doritos Locos Tacos. The co-branded item was immediately and heartily embraced by fans of both brands. The limited time offer generated tremendous buzz, bringing much needed excitement and sales ($200 million in the first six months) Taco Bell desperately needed at a time when it was facing a full-on assault from Chipotle’s “Farm” campaign.

Doritos benefitted from the partnership, as well. The brand became recognized as a flavor ingredient and enabled them to expand shelf presence in supermarkets with co-branded Loco Tacos flavored tortilla chips. The brilliant pairing of these two mega brands continues to bring fresh excitement to both brands — almost five years later. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But brand partnerships don’t always work as planned.

Consider the recent partnership between two leading fashion brands — Neiman Marcus and Target; or the one that paired cult-coffee super-brand Starbucks with global food & beverage powerhouse Kraft. Never heard of these partnerships? That’s because they failed miserably, with Target losing millions and Kraft ending up in court.

Avoiding such catastrophe requires sound strategy and grounding alliance in each brand’s DNA. The brand you choose to partner with must share your world view, your values and a large slice of your personality. Look for a brand that aligns with yours on important metrics like target audience, demographics and psychographics, brand values and character.

Most importantly, the consumers of each brand have to “get it.” Do they say “Ah ha!” or “Huh?” The most successful brand partnerships are built around those “Ah ha!” moments.