You know that when you have enjoyed yourself at a restaurant it wasn't only about the good food. Of course the meal is important, but it is also about the experience and how you were treated. The hostess welcomed you as if she knew you. The waitperson seemed to anticipate your every need without hovering at your elbow.

They provided enticing descriptions of the specials such that you considered options that you might not normally choose. ("Actually, a glass of wine would be nice, and the special salad sounds delicious.") You never need to ask for water, more time to decide, or the check. In the best cases, you weren't even aware of the service or the reality that you intended to only have a quick bite but ended up with a three course meal. You definitely plan to return and may even tell your friends.

Conversely, you may have gone to another restaurant that has decent food but you had such a bad experience that you vowed never to go back. There was no one to be found when you needed something, or they brought you the wrong order. Or worse, you may have had a waiter who was so present that it was a distraction - interrupting so often they may as well have been sitting at the table with you.

This analogy may be valuable to keep in mind when you think about your email marketing strategy. What kind of experience are you providing through your email communications? Are you delivering email content that is engaging and enticing? Are you providing offers that are relevant and based on past experience enough such that one might take a closer look? Or are you hitting your subscribers with an email every day, despite the fact that they haven’t opened the last five that you sent? This can quickly become annoying and you run the risk of damaging your brand and email sender reputation.

Take appropriate steps to ensure that you are providing a rewarding and engaging email marketing experience:

• Segment your email list based on past behavior.

• Consider your email content carefully and provide a reason for someone to open and read your email.

• Keep an eye on frequency of a particular campaign, but also across all your email marketing efforts in case people are getting multiple messages from you.

• Monitor email campaign results over time to get a sense for the best performance.

Email marketing is a powerful tool, but if it is not targeted, relevant and timely, it can quickly backfire and result in unsubscribes to your list. Remember to provide the kind of experience that will keep your email subscribers coming back for more.

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About the Author

Myra Friel is a product manager at Lyris responsible for the email marketing products. She is focused on delivering customer requirements and introducing new features to make Lyris HQ an even more powerful email marketing tool.

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