Marketers have renewed their focus on customer acquisition, wooing those who promise high buying power

A more modern, customer-friendly approach to e-mail marketing focused on message relevance is yielding great results. However, gathering and combining all of the useful bits of marketing data used to develop marketing segments and strategies is a difficult process. Direct digital marketing software has evolved rapidly, and marketers should demand their e-mail marketing platform contain a universal profile management system.

E-mail has many strengths, and one of the key attributes that excites marketers is the ability to track and report on subscribers' behaviors. Savvy marketers understand the importance of not only testing to increase performance, but choosing the right types of tests to run. They also understand that what worked previously or for another e-mail program may not work today or for your program. This is the reason that the answer to most questions is simply "it depends" and "test it."

Forget all the claims that one day or time is better than another to send messages to your mailing list. The ideal time to send e-mails, of course, is when each recipient is most likely to open and act on your e-mails.

Looking back over the past decade, I continue to marvel at the power, promise and precision offered by e-mail. It can be a highly effective tool to communicate, build relationships and drive consumer action. Unfortunately, marketers and e-mail service providers often fail to look beyond deliverability and open rates, and fail to consider the end-to-end consumer experience. Marketers tend to forget there is a person behind the e-mail address. It is the customer's e-mail address, not yours. Any other way of thinking is poor etiquette.

During the recession, companies launched e-mail campaigns in record numbers because it is cost-effective and measurable. According to a study by Forrester Research, spending on e-mail marketing in the US will balloon to $2 billion by 2014. In many cases, marketers are opting to shift marketing money from traditional media to interactive marketing.

E-mail is one of the youngest children in the marketing family but has long struggled for attention in the shadow of its print and online siblings. Today it enjoys the role of family favorite due to its efficiency, immediacy and measurability.

In these challenging times, it's more important than ever to stay in front of your customers. E-mail appears to be in the lead as a cost-effective way to achieve that goal. Its ability to help you optimize your most valuable asset — loyal customers — is a competitive advantage, especially in a down economy.

E-mail newsletters are an inexpensive tool for communicating with current and prospective customers and make up over half of all e-mails sent. They are expected to double in the next four years. You need a solid newsletter strategy to achieve long-term results.

Promotions claiming 99.99% anything set off alarm bells. It's just too good to be true, a little voice tells us, and in most cases the little voice is right.