Does your reader recognize you? 80% of people will decide to read your email by what you have put in the “from” name and subject line. Just like writing a headline, make the subject clear and enticing.

Once they’ve opened it, the first impression of your email is important. The look and feel should remain consistent, and the reader should be able to immediately recognize who you are--and why you’re sending the email.

Also consider that many of your recipients will only see the top portion of your email in the preview portion of their inbox, so make that real estate count. Don’t put a giant image at the top—according to Marketing Sherpa, 59% of B2C and 90% of B2B emails are seen with images turned off, leaving your email as a blank square and a small red x.

Collect email addresses everywhere—on your facebook page, in your lobby, at meetings, at events, in your email signature, on your website. And make signing up worth-while—make it clear what they’re going to get out of this.

Are you saying something relevant? Your emails shouldn’t always be a sales pitch—they should be reader-focused. How does what I’m saying benefit the reader? What incentive do they have to keep reading, to click through? Understanding your clients and what they want will give you guidance on what kind of information to deliver.

Is the content share-worthy? Do your clients ever ask about or comment on the emails you send out? If so, that’s a good sign! Then, analyze if it’s easy to pass along to others. The most basic first step is to simply include the buttons to “forward” and “share” on social media.

Most email providers have analytic tools so you can monitor what links get clicked and by whom. Use this information when you’re building your next email.

Re-purpose your content. You put the effort into creating the content, so you may as well get more than one use out of it. Put it on your blog, post it on your facebook, or store it on your website as a resource. The bonus here is that the regular addition of new, relevant content will help drive up your SEO ranking.

Less is more when it comes to copy. The same goes for your call to action—decide before you compose the email what your goal is. If, for example, you want more facebook fans, make it very clear. Keep all of the other components to a minimum, because they act as a distraction to what you really want.

Always include captions, headlines and a “PS” – they’re statistically shown to be the most highly read elements.