Debbie Weil is a corporate blogging and social media expert, online marketing consultant, speaker and author of The Corporate Blogging Book (Portfolio). She consults with large companies, CEOs and senior executives on how to create blogs that connect with customers and attract media attention.

* * * * 4 star review
Email marketing may be out of fashion with all the talk of RSS, IMing and text messaging, but it’s as powerful and effective as ever. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that there are dozens of variables to consider now that email is a mature marketing technique.

So where do you start? With MarketingSherpa’s 2006 Email Marketing Guide, of course. This is a chart and stat-filled reference from which you can glean dozens of insights. More importantly, you can create an immediate To Do list to improve your results.

Why only four stars?

It’s almost too much to digest. The guide weighs in at 282 pages and includes 310 charts and maps. It’s based on data contributed by 1,927 email marketers as well as 25 additional studies. That said, this is a hugely useful guide. I recommend it highly.

Extracting 5 keys to success

1. Your most important metrics

2. What to test

3. Growing your list

4. Design & usability tips

5. Beyond email: what you need to know
Continue reading “5 keys to effective email marketing in 2006″