Somehow, I've found myself on dozens of email marketing lists. Many of these are from companies I've actually purchased from in the past, or have expressed interest in, and many are from companies who no doubt have purchased my contact information and believe me to be a potential customer.
One thing I've noticed recently is that the really effective email marketing messages (at least for me) are very visual. You find a minimal amount of text and a lot of images and photographs. Take for example, this recent email message I received from my shirt vendor of choice, Charles Tyrwhitt:
Far from a text-heavy, visually unappealing message, the email marketing folks working at Charles Tyrwhitt understand that the average consumer is going to decide whether to read or delete an email within just a few seconds. Creating visually appealing email marketing communications can mean the difference between a trashed message and a message that converts into a website visit - and hopefully a completed purchase.