All outbound marketing communications, including relationship marketing email, have an offer. Whether it’s a company or product update, new feature, industry news, product or use tip, or even personal info. They're part of a promotional campaign that you can manage like any other marketing program.  Here are some basic steps to supercharging your offers.

1. Develop a plan.  What are you objectives?  Do you have the resources to fully plan and execute the campaign?  If not, how will you acquire the resources.  What is the full timetable? What are the direct, indirect, and opportunity costs? What is your budget for startup, deployment, marketing rollout, and maintenance? What are the go/no go checkpoints, if any?
   
   
2. Create appropriate and measurable metrics.  How do you measure results?  How do you link cost to sales?   What are your target expectations?  What is minimally acceptable for a successful campaign?
   
   
3. Design your offer. This encompasses your gift, selling proposition, message, collaterals, web landing page, and even individual words.
   
   
4. Get user feedback. Test and optimize on all the offer traits above.
   
   
5. Deploy through your marketing channels.  How and where are you going to promote your offer?  This can include both internal and external marketing, such as paid advertising, other marketing acquisition channels, plus ads and notices on your own page, email, newsletters, products, partners, and offices.
   
   
6. Follow up on marketing.  This includes autorresponders and custom emails, web pages, postal mail.
   
   
7. Repeat, repackage, and recycle.   Just like with content, leverage your investment in this marketing campaign.  Repeat the program on a regular basis.  Refine all phases of the plan and offer to optimize success.  Re-use the program and technologies for future campaigns and products.