With the New Year comes an opportunity to do things differently (and better) than you did the year before. While personal resolutions such as losing weight and getting in shape are important to your personal health, why not take the time to make a few resolutions with your career health in mind too?

If you work in email marketing and you want to make 2014 your best year yet, here are some resolutions worth considering:

1. Trim Down Your List of Subscribers

If you notice that certain people repeatedly aren’t opening or clicking through the emails you send, consider removing them from your list of subscribers. Otherwise, they could become annoyed by the emails they’re receiving and rather than just unsubscribing, they might report your emails as spam.

2. Do Your Homework

As someone involved in email marketing, you should always be on the look out for fresh, innovative strategies and ideas to add to your arsenal of tactics. Getting inspiration from others can also provide you with the motivation and enthusiasm you need to get the job done well.

3. Switch Things Up

Trying new things can be fun, whether it’s a new hairstyle or new polish on your toes, it’s fun switching up the way you look. The same goes for the appearance of your email templates. Adjusting the usual format or trying a whole new color palette can go a long way in grabbing your subscribers’ interest and making them want to click.

4. Continue Your Education

You may be out of school, but that doesn’t mean you should ever stop learning. Consider attending workshops and webinars led by experts in the field of email marketing. You could even find a guru online and ask if they’d be willing to mentor you.

5. Get Focused

As you head into the New Year, develop a strategy for all of your upcoming email marketing campaigns. Make sure that all of your actions reflect a laser focus on your goals and the outcomes you want to achieve.

6. Be Creative

If you’re a creative person, then let your emails show it! Challenge yourself to come up with subject lines so clever and creative that people can’t help but click on them. Since variety is the spice of life, mix up your content from time to time. If you use a video one day, try including a silly poem in your message the next. Do whatever you can to tap into your creativity, and people will appreciate it. Also, keep in mind that the more fun your emails are to read, the more likely it is that people will actually read them.

Here are some great examples:

• http://mashable.com/2013/11/08/email-responsive-design/
• http://designmaz.com/2013/09/best-responsive-email-templates.html
• http://www.designrazzi.com/2013/newsletter-email-templates/

7. Show Your Social Side

If you want your business to thrive in 2014, you can’t afford to ignore social media. In a world where almost everyone is a part of some social media platform (whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, or a combination of these), your business needs to be a part of it too, and your email marketing is the perfect opportunity to broadcast that you’re social. Make sure that every email you send out includes buttons for readers to share and like your content. Because it’s such an effective way to reach out and nurture relationships, you should dovetail your company’s social media marketing efforts with your email marketing ones as frequently as possible.

8. Give Back

A really good email should be giving something away to the reader because otherwise, what’s the point of them reading it? Whether it’s helpful information or a special savings offer, your subscribers will appreciate getting something out of your emails, and they’ll be much more likely to stay loyal to you if you offer them something they value.

Regardless of how 2013 ended, make this your year to sparkle and shine when it comes to your email marketing campaigns. Start acting on these resolutions today, and prosperous 2014 is sure to be yours!

 About Author:

Savannah Marie is a writer and public relations consultant for Coastal Life Systems. She writes about the latest online marketing, public relations and social media tactics.