The competition for email subscriber mindshare heats up every day as inboxes fill up. Having a good sender reputation and clean, opt-in lists is only half the battle, at best. You must provide content that grabs subscribers attention and distances you from your competition.

Developing content rich messaging as part of your email strategy meets three very important marketing objectives:

1. Break the monotony:  email marketing is a form of promotion, but if that’s “all you brought” it is unlikely that your subscribers will keep reading the same basic message. Content focused messaging breaks the monotony of promotional messaging and helps to re-engage your audience.

2. Create relevancy:  content rich promotional emails create relevancy by providing interesting, useful information.  They can also create subscriber perception of the value of your brand and its ability to meet unmet needs or address a challenge.

3. Facilitate sharing:  content rich emails, even those that are promotional, can inspire social and viral sharing. Spreading the word to new audiences and potential customers is a marketing gift that can’t be purchased directly, so give your subscribers an incentive to share through interesting content.

For food marketers, creating a content-focused email campaign should not be difficult because of the wide range of material available and the generally high level of consumer interest in food and nutrition.  Here are a few content development ideas to consider:

1. Recipe and menu suggestions that feature products and lifestyle eating occasions…any  opportunity that positions your products as a perfect meal or ingredient solution.

2. Product lists categorized by interest such as most popular, best sellers, eating occasions, meal or ingredient solutions…any category that positions your product as an established solution.

3. Q and A’s with nutritionists, chefs, other experts…anyone in your organization that is uniquely qualified to answer consumer questions about your product, and food and nutrition in general.

4. Comments, discussions, and consumer activity on social sites…let your subscribers know about the buzz going on.

The more meaningful the content you include in your email marketing, the more you increase the odds that your target audience will engage and share.