Billions of people are now communicating at home and at work via email in an explosion of connectivity that threatens to undermine the established relationships of businesses in many sectors of the economy.

Executive endorsements for email marketing continue to spread like wildfire with budgets being re-evaluated, and then re-allocated, to include a more balanced online and offline marketing mix. The result is an integrated multi-channel marketing program that is faster, more effective, personalized, automated, measurable and, most importantly, profitable.

The Direct Marketing Association published an economic-impact study which stated, "The ROI for email marketing was $57.25 for every dollar spent. The ROI of all non-email-related online marketing was $22.52, less than half. And yet marketers only spent around $300 million on email marketing efforts, compared to $12 billion for non-email-related marketing -- $12 billion to get a return that is less than half of what can be achieved in email."

Still, regardless of how much is being spent, companies worldwide are tapping into the significant top- and bottom-line revenues. For example, the average ecommerce business today can expect to generate 10-30 percent of annual sales revenue from its email marketing program. For a large retailer that is $25-35 million per year.
However, many savvy marketers are still barely realizing their ROI potential from the email channel. In fact, most organizations entrenched in their own business affairs often lose sight of prime areas where they can save significant time and money using the email channel.

Having consulted hundreds of Fortune 500 companies over the past 10 years, I've realized the need busy marketers like yourself have for identifying timely actions to reduce spending and maximize earnings. Because you have limited time, money and resources, you must know where to focus your attention. Like so many others, you want proven solutions to safely apply industry best practices and dramatically improve marketing spending effectiveness.

Good news! I have your short list of top five quick wins!

Author notes: Barry Stamos is the senior director of strategy for Responsys. Read full bio.