The last time we looked at e-mail marketing, I was less than kind... but what can I say? Sometimes the truth hurts!  It gets better today; a new email passed through my inbox this morning that does a pretty decent job,  so let's take a look:

This email starts off great. The first thing it does is let you know why you're getting it and how to stop getting the emails if you've changed your mind.  They understand that if people don't want to be on your list, then you don't want them on your list either.  Moving on to the email itself, they've made an appropriately short pitch of the product they are promoting (in this case, summer cocktails) and they link directly to a menu that lists all the cocktails available as well as their prices.  It's short, to the point, and gets the message across.

They also get bonus points for including some editorial (non-sales) information.  They've linked up two videos that show you how to make a few summer cocktails yourself.  It's always good to include some free information if it is of actual interest to your list.

I only have two complaints:

1. They haven't included any method of tracking results. Just to be clear, you don't have to offer free stuff for every single email... but it's good to do so occasionally for two reasons. First, it will allow you to track how successful your email campaigns are, and  secondly it gives people a reason to allow you to continue to send them email. If you only every send ads and never send any bonuses, you'll lose subscribers.

2. There is no social media linked from the email (Twitter / Facebook) -- however, a brief search showed me that as of the date of this post, they don't have a Facebook or Twitter account, so that's a problem that goes a bit beyond Email Marketing.

So, a much better example this time around! Next time, hopefully we can find an email piece that does everything (or almost) everything right!