There are many things that email marketers can do to make their email programs work harder for them. And for frequent readers of this blog, you will likely have picked up a few here and there.

Today, I wanted to roundup some of the tried and true ways you can improve the effectiveness of your emails, and introduce some new ones based on recent tests and trends.

Here are 10 ways to make your email marketing more effective:

1. Responsive design – most email marketers have seen a huge uptick in mobile readership, which means your old email designs aren’t going to do. Responsive design allows you to create emails that are easily viewed on any device.
    
2. Social share – adding social sharing options into your email encourages interaction and has proven to increase click-thru rates.
    
3. Forward call outs – don’t just sit back and expect people to forward your emails to their friends, ask them to and give them a simple way to right from the email.
    
4. Exclusivity – your emails should provide some benefit to your subscribers that they could not have received in any other way.
    
5. Big buttons – it’s no longer enough to just put links in the text. Especially on mobile viewing, buttons make it easier for people to click thru on your emails and will increase the rate at which they do so.
    
6. Test subject lines – don’t assume you know which subject line will work best. Every email you send is a new opportunity to test better subject lines to improve your open rate.
    
7. Personalize – use what you know about your subscribers to customize your emails. At the very least, use their name.
    
8. Shorten – get to the point quicker and don’t waste any words. Get people into your email and out of your email quicker, because they have better things to do than read your email.
    
9. Test time of day – in the many tests I have seen, the big truth about time of day effectiveness is that it depends on who your subscribers are. If you haven’t tested different times, you should. Mornings, afternoons, and evenings will give you different results.
    
10. Segment – you don’t have to send every email to every subscriber. Create different segments and customize your messaging based on past behavior, subscriber interests, or any other criteria that will help make your emails more relevant.