This document provides strategies for small and medium-sized businesses to start and improve their email marketing. It discusses growing an email list through referrals and removing inactive subscribers. Key points covered include segmenting lists based on audience characteristics, using an editorial calendar to plan email content, including valuable content and calls to action in emails, testing different subject lines, designing emails for multiple devices, and measuring email performance over time to continue improving results. The document aims to help SMBs effectively use email marketing to nurture and generate more leads for their business.

1. 10 S T R AT E G I E S TO G E T YO U S TA RT E D
Email marketing for SMBs

2. Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION | P. 3
1. HOW TO GROW YOUR CUSTOMER BASE THROUGH EMAIL | P. 4
2. HOW TO TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE | P. 5
3. WHAT SHOULD BE IN YOUR EMAILS | P. 6
4. HOW OFTEN YOU SHOULD SEND THEM | P. 7
5. WHAT YOUR EMAILS SHOULD LOOK LIKE | P. 8
6. HOW TO WRITE STRONG SUBJECT LINES | P. 9
7. THE IMPORTANCE OF MOBILE DEVICES AND TESTING | P. 10
8. HOW TO AVOID TRIGGERING SPAM FILTERS | P. 11
9. HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS | P. 12
10. HOW TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE YOUR EMAIL MARKETING | P. 13
ABOUT MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM ONLINE | P. 14
FOOTNOTES | P. 15

3. 3
INTRODUCTION
Email marketing is like that timeless rock band that continues to
sound fantastic many years later. In a world increasingly influenced
by social media, email marketing remains an effective way to acquire
new customers. A study by business analyst Forrester notes that email
marketing continues to be THE most effective method of nurturing leads
for top B2B companies.¹ A Forbes article from October 2015 pronounces,
“Email still remains the best way to sell your product in a digital world.”²
Part of its staying power is that email marketing offers bang for the buck.
It’s relatively cheap, and can deliver an ROI exceeding 40 times the cost,
according to the Direct Marketing Association.³
But poor and careless use of this marketing tool can be costly. Not only
can you waste time while generating meager results and few leads, but
you can also damage your brand and your customer relationships by
being labeled “a spammer.”
In this eBook, we provide best
practices — and things to avoid —
regarding these important email
marketing concepts:
DEVELOPING YOUR
SUBSCRIBER LIST
TARGETING YOUR AUDIENCE
PROVIDING COMPELLING
CONTENT FOR YOUR EMAILS
FINDING THE RIGHT FREQUENCY
OF SENDING EMAILS
BAL ANCING IMAGES
WITH TE X T
DESIGNING EMAILS FOR
MOBILE DEVICES AS WELL
AS PCS AND MACS
WRITING STRONG
SUBJECT LINES
AVOIDING SPAM FILTERS
MEASURING EMAIL
PERFORMANCE
CONTINUING TO IMPROVE
YOUR EMAIL MARKETING
Need to nurture or generate more leads?
Read on for email marketing tips for your business.
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4. 1. HOW TO
GROW YOUR CUSTOMER
BASE THROUGH EMAIL
The first step is to build your mailing list. You can do this in a CRM system such as Microsoft
Dynamics CRM Online, or within a third-party email service provider of your choice. Think
of your mailing list as containing subscribers to your business. You want them to remain
subscribers, so you need to ensure the information you send them is relevant to them.
Initially, your list will contain your current customers, plus partners, contacts, associates
and friends you’d like to include. Your goal is to efficiently build and shape this list, adding
people you believe have an interest in hearing from you (i.e., your customer leads) and, over
time, finding and removing those you believe are not potential customers. This is important
because you want a quality list, with people who show interest in your emails by their
interactions, such as frequently opening them to read them, responding to offers, etc.
HOW TO KEEP BUILDING AN
IMPACTFUL LIST
Referrals from existing customers, as well as
members of industry and trade associations of
which your company is a member, are potential
subscribers to your emails. As you build your list,
consider pruning it too. Remove past customers
who have left companies or whose companies have
gone out of business, etc.
To add potential prospects, you can buy or
rent third-party lists based on the audience
characteristics you are targeting. Caution! Third-
party lists often contain outdated or invalid email
addresses; they also will likely contain addresses
of people who have never heard of your company,
and people who do not want to receive unsolicited
emails.
Be sure that your emails contain an unsubscribe
button, so someone can click it to be removed
from your list. Validate all email addresses before
you send, and also remove “bounced” emails from
your list (bounced emails are those that fail to reach
inboxes; read on for more about them).
A CRM system will help you manage your email
campaigns and customer information, including
helping you keep your mailing list or lists current.
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5. 2. HOW TO
TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE
As you build your mailing list, consider segmenting your audience into groups — based on
demographics, buying habits, expressed preferences, or other ways they consistently interact with your
company. This will allow you to personalize your messages and tailor them to a recipient’s interests. Or
invite certain segments to specific events or activities your company sponsors.
The more narrowly you can segment users, the more personalized the information or offers you can
provide them. Targeted emails have been found to generate the best results. Companies that use email
list segmentation saw 39 percent higher open rates, and 28 percent lower unsubscribe rates, according to
the Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report.⁴
Targeting effectively takes work to get to know the needs and preferences of your subscribers. A CRM
system can help you in doing so, which means you can hit more precise target audiences for your
product offers, events and content. For example, you don’t want to keep sending a webinar invite to
those who have already signed up for it.
SITUATION EMAILS CAN HELP YOUR CAMPAIGNS
Situational emails are those automatically sent to recipients based on an action they take. These have proven to be effective in continuing to engage a recipient.
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If your company hosts a webinar or event:
Sending a “sorry we missed you” email to those who sign up but are unable to attend (for
whatever reason) may persuade them to contact you to see what they missed, and to avoid
missing your future events.
If your company sells products via a website:
Sending a personal email to a user after an abandoned shopping cart can prompt reconsideration
or a new interaction.

6. AN EDITORIAL CALENDAR CAN
BE AN EFFECTIVE ROAD MAP
A great place to start is by creating an annual
editorial calendar for your company. Brainstorm
topics that will be relevant to your customers, based
on the rhythm of your business or time of year, and
determine the best way to communicate these to
them (article? video?).
For example, a small retailer could build an editorial
calendar around important seasonal events, such
as winter sales, spring and summer fashions,
Back-to-School time, and the all-important holiday
shopping season. A roofer could offer advice on
leak prevention and snow protection in the winter
months, then promote re-roofing services in the
spring and summer.
By mapping out events, product launches and
promotions for a given time period, you can plan
when to run email marketing campaigns and invest
in the content needed for them.
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3. WHAT SHOULD BE IN
YOUR EMAILS
Email marketing that successfully generates leads requires delivering something of value
to the recipient. That could mean a newsletter with articles on topics that impact them,
such as lawn-care tips from a landscaping company or home-remodeling advice from a
real estate firm. It could also mean sharing an engaging customer story, an offer of a free
assessment service from your company, an event invitation, or even a thank-you note.
With calls to action such as links or downloads in your emails, you can harvest names and
email addresses of those showing interest in your content, giving you leads to nurture.
A successful email marketing strategy should be part of a larger content strategy that
includes educational content (how-to articles or posts on industry tips and trends, for
example) as well as promotional content (product announcements, case studies, offers,
etc.). Many experts recommend a strong balance of educational versus promotional
content, so recipients feel they are being enriched as well as enticed to buy something.
Good: An email linking to a
well-researched article about an
industry trend
Bad: An email pitching your
company generally, rather than a
specific product or service
Good: A targeted audience invite to
a company-sponsored webinar
Bad: An invite to a broad
geographic audience of an
event in a remote location
Good: An offer and sign-up page
for a complimentary service your
company is providing
Bad: The same offer, with the
sign-up page missing
E XAMPLE 2E XAMPLE 1 E XAMPLE 3

7. EMAIL METRICS CAN HELP YOU
DETERMINE FREQUENCY
As a business owner, you’ll need to monitor the
performance of your emails. Track statistics such
as how often recipients open your email (the
“open rate”). If it regularly falls below 5 percent
— which is well under half the industry open-
rate averages, as you will see ahead — it could
be that you are sending emails too frequently,
or perhaps not frequently enough. (Of course, it
could also be that your content is too salesy and/
or not relevant, or that your calls to action are not
compelling. More information on measuring email
performance is ahead.)
The truth is, any mailing list
you build will include recipients
with different preferences on
frequency.
Having the ability to target groups within your list
enables you to vary the frequency and reach more
interested subscribers more often. Also, be sure to
include an “unsubscribe” link in every email you
send out, so that those who do not want to receive
your email can opt out.
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4. HOW OFTEN YOU
SHOULD SEND THEM
What is the optimal email frequency? Is it one email a quarter, month, week or day? This
is a basic question every business owner must answer to improve the response to the
company’s emails.
A consensus opinion from studies on this topic is that even weekly emails may be too
frequent (recipients get tired of hearing from you that often), and that monthly emails
may not be frequent enough (your company ends up falling off their radar). A sweet spot
may be somewhere in the middle. Your frequency must be tailored to match the needs
of your audience.
As an article from marketing expert Clickz.com notes, “Subscribers
don’t have uniform reactions so, in reality, the perfect email
frequency doesn’t exist.”⁵

8. THE PITFALL OF USING
TOO MANY IMAGES
While using images and graphics is a good thing,
using too many is not. Graphics-heavy emails take
more time to load, increasing chances a user will
leave before your email is displayed. Such emails
also are more likely to trigger users’ spam filters.
How many images are too many? This depends on
several factors, including the length of the email.
But research by email service
provider Constant Contact found
that emails with three or fewer
images, and a corresponding
20 lines of text, generated the
highest rates of users clicking
through to web pages or to
downloads offered via the email.⁷
As a general rule, emails with five or more images
are at higher risk for problems such as having slow
download times or going into Junk Mail folders.
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5. WHAT YOUR EMAILS
SHOULD LOOK LIKE
In today’s more visual world, people receive much of their information through pictures
and illustrations. So if you’re going to send out emails, you can maximize their potential by
including relevant images along with text.
Consider using quality photos taken by people at your company or others you know. If
those are not available, stock photography or stock images from a provider such as iStock
may be an option. Creative agencies you work with also can be an excellent source of
pictures and illustrations.
While plain-text emails may not be as aesthetically pleasing to a recipient, they may
still be worth doing if the message is short and your email service provider offers a
clean, well-designed message template. Add your company logo for authenticity and
brand recognition.
According to Hubspot, 65 percent of users like emails that are mostly made
up of images, while only 35 percent prefer their emails to be text-heavy.⁶
QUALIT Y PHOTOS
Taken by your company
or utilize images from a
stock provider.
COMPANY LOGO
For authenticity and
brand recognition.
BAL ANCE TE X T
Don’t use too many
images.

9. 6. HOW TO WRITE STRONG
SUBJECT LINES
A strong subject line is crucial to making sure your email gets read. Writing good subject lines
takes practice, and experts recommend that you come up with multiple versions and test them.
Most email service providers have a feature where you can use different subject lines for different
segments of the subscriber list (known as “A/B testing”), and track the response from each segment.
The best subject lines are short, snappy, and “tell” users about the content in the message rather
than “sell” it.
USE A
CONVERSATIONAL TONE
Casual, conversational subject lines
typically result in more people
opening an email than those that
appear formal or direct, or mimic
newspaper headlines.
GOOD: We want you back as
a customer!
GOOD: Join us for a lively
discussion about filmmaking
NUMBERS, QUESTIONS
& HUMOR OFTEN
WORK WELL
Subject lines such as “7 tips for writing
better emails” or “10 restaurants to
visit in Seattle” will pique interest, in
part because the numbers suggest a
list that can be scanned quickly. But
subject lines in the form of a question,
or using subtle humor, can also stand
out. Experiment and test.
GOOD: 10 new reasons to check
out downtown Seattle
GOOD: Is spring break a good time
for a promotional event?
KEEP IT UNDER 50
CHARACTERS
Shorter messages that quickly
register on the brain or incite
curiosity work best.
GOOD: Acme Furniture unveils
new ergonomic couches
BAD: Acme Furniture has a
new line of ergonomic couches
that really promises to make
you smile
OFFER HELP
RATHER THAN A HARD
SALES PITCH
Entice, persuade, excite, inform,
and include a call to action, if
appropriate. Just don’t be too pushy,
or you will turn off potential leads.
Effectively representing the content
you are providing will serve you
better than highly promotional
claims or pitches.
GOOD: Warning signs that you
may need a new roof
GOOD: How to tell if you have a
mouse problem
AVOID ALL-CAPS,
EMOTICONS,
AND MULTIPLE
E XCL AMATION POINTS
These suggest the work of
a spammer.
GOOD: Join us for networking
and fun on January 27!
BAD: JOIN US FOR NETWORKING
AND FUN ON JANUARY 27!!!!!
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10. EMAILS NEED TO WORK
ON ANY DEVICE
Chances are that your emails will not look the
same on all browsers. You want readability and
image clarity on as many browsers as possible, but
especially those used by the largest number of your
recipients.
You also want your calls to
action to work on all devices and
browsers, so recipients can reach
the destination website, signup
page or download page you’re
linking to — anywhere and on
any device in which they open
your email.
Testing enables you to fix and tweak content and
designs where you can, and at least know about
potential problems before you send. It can also
help you find problems with how your website
looks to potential customers using different devices
and browsers than you’re accustomed to using.
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7. THE IMPORTANCE OF
MOBILE DEVICES
AND TESTING
Because people today are constantly on the go, more than 50 percent of all emails delivered
today are opened on a mobile phone, according to Litmus.⁸ That percentage will continue to
increase, as the number of U.S. smartphone users is growing each year.
Using a mobile-friendly template for your emails is a must today. Fortunately, many email service
providers offer email templates that render across mobile devices, as well as PCs and Macs.
Consider using a provider that offers such a template, rather than one whose templates show
only a half-screen on mobile devices.
It is still important, however, to test preview versions of your emails on a variety of PC and
smartphone browsers. One way of doing this is to send test mails to multiple email accounts —
Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo and others — as well as on different browsers such as Internet
Explorer, Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Android and iOS. Get your internal team to help you scrutinize
the preview versions.

11. 8. HOW TO AVOID
TRIGGERING SPAM FILTERS
A spam filter is a program that is used to detect unsolicited and unwanted email and prevent those
messages from getting to a user’s inbox. Most email software comes equipped with a spam filter. Emails
that trigger spam filters generally go into Junk Mail folders.
Spam filters are often triggered by words and phrases such as “Free!” or “Buy now!” or “Click here!” That’s
because these resemble emails emanating from the countless number of professional spammers out
there. Lots of capital letters or exclamation points in your emails can also trigger spam filters.
AVOID CREATING EMAILS THAT
ARE ONE BIG IMAGE AND LIT TLE
OR NO TE X T
Spam filters can’t read images, so they assume you’re a
spammer trying to trick them.
AVOID USING LOTS OF BRIGHT
COLORED FONTS
Since many spam filters contain multiple bright colors, spam
filters may assume you are a spammer.
AVOID SENDING TO STALE OR
INACTIVE LISTS
A user’s email-sender permissions generally go stale within
about six months. So if those on your mailing list haven’t
heard from you within that timeframe, your emails may
trigger spam filters.
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Spam filters are another big reason to test your emails before sending. If your emails wind up in Junk Mail folders of your "test" audience of colleagues
and friends, you need to be wary. You may need to change the subject line you’re using, or some of the language in your content, or the number of
images in your email.

12. 9. HOW TO MEASURE SUCCESS
If you’re new to email marketing, you’ll soon learn that, despite your best efforts, not everyone will open your emails. In fact, a best-case scenario is that
half of those on your subscriber list opens your email. However, by establishing a regular cadence and continuing to provide value to your recipients
with email, you will build readership and qualified leads.
Most email service providers help you measure the performance of your emails with an analytics section. It is important that you track the performance
of your emails, and make changes and improvements where needed.
OPEN RATE
What percentage of your mailing list opened
your email? Email service providers track this
and other user actions mentioned below.
January 2016 statistics from MailChimp show
the average open rates per industry vary
from 16 percent to 29 percent.9
A strong
subject line will help encourage more people
to open your emails.
Note: Always capture the names and
email addresses of those who open your
emails, for potential follow-up. Again,
consider a CRM system to gather and
nurture them to being customers.
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Here are some key metric terms that you should become acquainted with:
CLICK-THROUGH RATE
What percentage of your mailing list clicked
on one of your links or calls to action? In
other words, was the content compelling to
them? MailChimp industry averages range
from 2 percent to 5.5 percent, meaning this
many total recipients clicked a link or call to
action within an email.10
CONVERSION RATE
What percentage downloaded an item,
signed up for an offer, or registered for
an event? This percentage is typically
smaller than the click-through rate because
recipients who click often decide not to
download an item or register for an event.
Those who do are probably the most
qualified leads you will capture.
BOUNCE RATE
This is the percentage of emails that could
not be delivered to a recipient’s inbox, and
come in two flavors: Soft and hard. “Soft”
bounces represent a temporary problem
with a valid email address, such as a full
inbox or an out-of-office recipient. “Hard”
bounces reflect invalid or non-existent email
addresses, which should be immediately
removed from your mailing list.

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10. HOW TO CONTINUE
TO IMPROVE YOUR
EMAIL MARKETING
What constitutes success or failure in open, click-through and conversion rates varies per
company and industry. But generally, if you are not happy with your email performance and are
not generating new leads, you should consider making changes.
It is not uncommon for a company new to email marketing to require course-corrections in a few
specific areas. Change and test. Test and change. Get it right. With enough work, you can.
In its 2016 State of Email Report, email testing and analytics provider Litmus noted that email
marketing is now “more powerful than ever.”
“With a return on investment (ROI) of 38-to-1 on every dollar invested, it has
the highest ROI among digital marketing channels. And people actually want
to receive email. 72% say they prefer companies to communicate with them
via email over any other channel. So not only does email have the highest ROI,
but it’s people’s preferred method of communication, too.”
MIMIC YOUR BEST
SUBJECT LINES
Track your emails’ performance and note which
ones had the best open rates. And the worst. It is
very likely that your subject lines for these were
your strongest, and your weakest. Were the stronger
ones shorter or more descriptive? Determine what
worked and try to mimic that.
Here are some ways to continue to
improve your email marketing:
DETERMINE WHAT CONTENT
RESONATES BEST
Note which emails had the best click-through and
conversion rates. Is your content fresh, timely and
unique? Or is it duplicative of what your recipients
already know or see elsewhere? Are you providing
enough educational content versus promotional
content? Also, are your offers compelling or
competitively priced?
KEEP YOUR SUBSCRIBER
LIST UPDATED
If you are using a list that has a bounce rate of
more than 5 percent, your list needs to be updated.
Also, remove names of people who have asked to
unsubscribe, as quickly as you can (some third-
party email service providers do this for you
automatically). List maintenance is a requirement —
a mailing list is always a work in progress.

14. 14
ABOUT
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM ONLINE
One of the best repositories for your customer leads is a CRM system such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. It allows you to develop a database of
customer information for use in future email marketing and related campaigns.
You can track a customer’s purchasing history, preferences, contact information, and interactions with your company, so you can really know your
customers and deliver a great customer experience. In a connected world, delivering a great customer experience is more essential than ever. It helps
you differentiate your business, build loyalty, and maintain your reputation.
Dynamics CRM Online provides secure, reliable access to detailed account information, streamlined business processes, collaborative tools and much
more, all within one easy-to-use platform in the Microsoft Cloud. Build loyal and profitable customer relationships through better customer intelligence
and personalized experiences.
We understand you have your own unique needs and have limited resources. A business solution from Microsoft that includes Dynamics CRM Online
can help small and medium businesses thrive.
Visit this page to learn more.
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15. 15
FOOTNOTES
1. Forrester Research, “Gauging Your Progress and Success,” December 2013, https://www.forrester.com/report/Gauging+Your+Progress+And+Success/-/E-RES95303 (as reported in Marketing Action Blog,
“87 New (Really) Marketing Automation Stats,” Act-On Software, January 5, 2015, http://blog.act-on.com/2015/01/70-new-really-marketing-automation-stats/).
2. Jeff Cornwall, “Why Email Marketing is More Effective Than Social Media,” Forbes.com, October 24, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffcornwall/2015/10/24/why-email-marketing-is-more-effective-than-
social-media/#58fd7eb76595.
3. Direct Marketing Association, “DMA 2013 Statistical Fact Book,” 2013, http://thedma.org, (as reported in Marketing Action Blog, “87 New (Really) Marketing Automation Stats,” Act-On Software, January 5,
2015, http://blog.act-on.com/2015/01/70-new-really-marketing-automation-stats/).
4. Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report, 2015 (as reported in Josic.com, “Email Marketing Statistics for 2015,” http://www.josic.com/resources/email-marketing/statistics-2015.)
5. Graham Charlton, “What’s the best email frequency and how do you find it?,” ClickZ.com, October 20, 2015, https://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2431087/whats-the-best-email-frequency-and-how-do-
you-find-it.
6. Hubspot, “The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics,” Email Marketing Stats, Hubspot.com, http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics?__
hstc=174556925.0c422c5f185d2a43077abc23bc2f223d.1452281160134.1452281160134.1455919791345.2&__hssc=174556925.1.1455919791345&__hsfp=2625430613.
7. Jason Fidler, “New Data: How the Amount of Text and Images Impact Email Click-Through Rates,” Constant Contact Blog, March 3, 2015, http://blogs.constantcontact.com/email-images/.
8. Justine Jordan, “53% of Emails Opened on Mobile; Outlook Opens Decrease 33%,” Litmus.com Blog, January 15, 2015, https://litmus.com/blog/53-of-emails-opened-on-mobile-outlook-opens-
decrease-33.
9. MailChimp Research, “Email Marketing Benchmarks,” MailChimp.com, Updated March 1, 2016, http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/.
10. MailChimp Research, “Email Marketing Benchmarks,” MailChimp.com, Updated March 1, 2016, http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/.
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16. 16
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