If you’re about to create a business startup here’s what you need to know to make your startup experience as smooth and successful as possible.

1. Email is not a thing of the past. With the invention and widespread use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, the continuing use of emails was questionable. However, evidence from Visible Gains, a marketing communication company, shows that there was a 19 percent increase of emails sent from 2009 to 2010 and 3 billion email accounts were registered. In 2014, the number of email accounts is expected to reach 3.8 billion, with 75 percent being owned by consumers. Email has contributed to some of the most qualified business searches and has the highest ROI (return of investment) of any marketing channel.

2. Display ads are effective for marketing. Display ads have mainly been used for branding and new customer acquisitions. However, if you combine the CRM data, user cookies, data management platforms and ad servers, display ads can be effective channels for marketing. Marketers can use their CRM data to target individuals to give them relevant ads that will lead to higher click-through and conversion rates.

3. The “Year of Mobile” is upon us. Perhaps there won’t be a specific “Year of Mobile”, but mobile marketing is quickly gaining ground. The number of people using smartphones and tablets, free push channels and location based services all play a large part in how people can use their phones to buy whatever they need.

4. Social marketing ROI exists. Brands focus largely on social listening and community management, which are resource intensive. To utilize social marketing ROI, you should apply direct marketing techniques to social media. Marketers should acquire permission via social opt-in to collect and analyze social profile data, and then use that data to deliver personalized messages over Facebook and the sort. This will tailor social marketing programs to customer expectations.

5. “Big data” is important to developing and carrying out targeted digital campaigns. A large struggle for marketers has always been gathering consumer information into one location to create a more effective marketing strategy. Being able to collect, process and understand consumer information from “big data” sets will allow marketers to deliver relevant, personal and timely ads.