Mine More Eyeballs from the Inbox

When you sit down for coffee and open your inbox in the morning do you find yourself wondering how all that spam gets through your company firewall?

Who Are These People?

But then you realize there are a few "must reads." The ones that make you feel if you delete them you'll be a day late and a dollar short. These messages are not spam. They are email newsletters. A valuable resource that stands out from intruders.

As a marketer trying to leverage the web to expand your business, what would it be worth to become one of the "must reads" that grabs your prospect's eyeballs, ends up being forwarded, archived, debated and referred back to while countless others get a one way trip to the recycle bin?

Since the problem is clutter, flinging another survey at customers to find out why they don't read your emails is probably not the most effective method of gathering intelligence.

Saturation Barrier

Spying on your prospects and customers with stealth technology that ties up their bandwidth, gives them viruses and violates their privacy? Not exactly on the top ten list for ways to endear yourself to discrimminating consumers.

No Rabbit in That Hat

There are no tricks to winning eyeballs. It's a straightforward proposition. Give people quality, relevant content and they won't delete you. As often. Hopefully.

Email marketing is critical to gaining a brand equity position not only in your prospect's inboxes but in their cluttered minds as well.

Stay focused on paying back the reader for their time. Leave the selling to mass market advertising platforms. It's not easy, but there's a very short list of "must reads" and you need to be on it.

This commentary and analysis was written by Andrew Ellenberg, group executive producer for Entercom Communications Corp. which owns and operates News Radio 980 KMBZ. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.