E-mail is a powerful tool for gaining a customer base faster than by traditional methods. E-mail broadcasting is a service that enables you to distribute thousands of customized e-mails per hour and collect information right after they have been sent out! Not only can you gather real-time feedback on your campaigns, you can also simplify surveys and referral campaigns.

If you are struggling hard to create and execute an e-mail broadcast for your business, consider a few simple but fundamental rules about e-mail messages that will enhance response.

1. Be selective: Don’t carpet bomb. Make use of e-mail addresses that have a verifiable opt-in status. This will increase response rates by 10 times.

2. Don’t bore: With the amount of spamming that goes on, you need to give the recipient a solid reason to open your message. Badly constructed subject lines are a sure way to the trash folder. At the same time, don’t use the subject line as a feverish sales pitch.

3. Don’t waffle: Your e-mail broadcast is only a means to an end. The desired outcome is establishing contact with your prospect or getting them to visit your website. Remember, a long message has small chance of eliciting a response. Do mention your reason for e-mailing right at the beginning. For writing professional sounding e-mails, refer to e-books.

4. Make it attractive: Use HTML to create the message, as it looks better on screen and allows the URL's to be hidden behind images. Also develop a text version of the HTML which can be broadcast simultaneously, to ensure that recipients who are unable to accept the latter will still be able to receive your message.

5. Don’t over-design: Ensure that your entire message, including the response mechanism, can be viewed on a single screen. Avoid using different font sizes and typefaces that only confuse and distract readers from the main message. Also make sure that graphics are kept to a minimum or preferably less than 24KB.

6. Make it easy: This is the most important e-mail broadcast rule. Always include a clear and crisp call to action like "Register" or Buy Now" that allows users to access your website easily.

7. Follow up: You shouldn’t think of e-mail broadcast as a one time hit - an all or nothing approach. Keep track of everything - unsubscribed clickable-links, e-mail responses, phone calls and faxes received. Also check the status of every click on the website and follow up on the same.

8. Time it right: Don’t send too many messages at the same time as recipients will delete them all. For unfathomable reasons, Tuesdays and Thursdays have proved to be the most productive for B2B broadcasts. However, Friday afternoons, just before the beginning of the weekend is the best time to reach out to consumers.