Email marketingis directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people usingemail. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either sold lists or a current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encouragecustomer loyaltyand repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and addingadvertisementsto email messages sent by other companies to their customers.Madison Logicposted global data in April 2014 that claimed 122 billion emails are sent every hour.

Advantages[edit]Email marketing is popular with companies for several reasons: An exactreturn on investmentcan be tracked ("track to basket") and has proven to be high when done properly. Email marketing is often reported as second only tosearch marketingas the most effective online marketing tactic.[4] Email marketing is significantly cheaper and faster than traditional mail, mainly because of high cost and time required in a traditional mail campaign for producing the artwork, printing, addressing and mailing. Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of email subscribers who have opted in (i.e., consented) to receive email communications on subjects of interest to them. Almost half of AmericanInternetusers check or send email on a typical day,[5]with email blasts that are delivered between 1 am and 5 am local time outperforming those sent at other times in open and click rates.[6][7] Email is popular with digital marketers, rising an estimated 15% in 2009 to 292 m in the UK.[8] If compared to standard email, direct email marketing produces higher response rate and higher average order value fore-commercebusinesses.[9]

5 Reasons You Should Start An Email Marketing Campaign:1. Email Marketing is TargetedEmail marketing solves all the inherent problems of non-targeted marketing. Gone are the days of placing an advertisement on television, on a diner placemat, or in a periodical with no control of who will see it. With email marketing, you have the ability to control exactly who sees an email by segmenting your contacts based on their lead status, demographics, location or any other data. Targeting emails ensures that your audience receives content suited specifically to his/her needs. Email marketing makes it simple to customize your message for each customer, fostering a higher conversion rate.2. Email Marketing Increases Brand AwarenessWith each email sent, consumers are exposed to your business and your brand. With strategic planning, smart design and targeted content, your business will consistently build value. In doing so, you stay top-of-mind with your audience. Then, when a customer needs products or services, your business stands a much better chance of turning those leads into clients and clients into loyal customers.3. Email Marketing is Easily Shareable.There arent many forms of marketing as easy to share as email marketing. With the simple click of the forward button, subscribers can share your deals, offers and news with their friends. Subscribers who share your emails are acting as brand advocates. Therefore, when a subscriber shares an email with friends, your brand gains more exposure and credibility.4. Email Marketing is MeasurableAnalytics are indispensable to measuring the success of any campaign. Many marketing channels present ambiguous and estimated results. Email marketing, on the other hand, draws precise and valuable metrics, including delivery rates, open rates, click-to-deliver rates and subscriber retention rates. Even better: these metrics are more than just numbers and percentages. They are insights about your customers behaviors and interests. Use your email marketing campaign as a tool to monitor which information your consumers are most responsive to. From there, you can further target your marketing strategy towards more successful campaigns and topics of interest.5. Email Marketing is Cost effective.Perhaps the most appealing advantage of email marketing is the return on investment. No print costs, no postage fees, no advertising rates. Email marketing is as affordable as marketing gets. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing brings in $40 for every $1 spend, outperforming search, display and social marketing.Email Marketing is a must.In todays ever-changing digital world, email marketing tends to take a backseat. However, if you havent considered email marketing for your business already, now is the time. Email marketing is a targeted, shareable, credible, measurable, and cost-effective tool overlooked by many. Working with a trusted marketing advisor makes the process simple and cost-effective. With a strategic approach, proper guidance and a strong message, your business is sure to benefit from email marketing.

The Top10 Benefits of Email MarketingEmail Marketing eBook|Kevin,CEO & Founder of Comm100Why does email marketing present such a benefit over other more traditional forms of marketing? Why does it drive better returns on investment and customer engagement metrics than other marketing techniques? Why would you invest the time and resources to develop an email marketing program at all?In this article, Comm100 presents you the top tenemail marketing benefitsto your business compared to other forms of marketing, including:Email Marketing Benefits No.1: Reduced Time & EffortTake a moment to think about the time and effort involved in structuring a direct-to-consumer or direct business-to-business campaign using one of the two most common offline direct marketing communications techniques: Print Postal Mailings:You'll need to allow time for a designer to create the mailing, typically through several lengthy revisions. Then you'll need to allow time for the print mailing to be printed, cut and, if necessary, stuffed into envelopes. There will be time while the marketing collateral is being transported via the postal system and then time while you wait for the consumer to retrieve it from the mail box. Telesales Campaigns:In addition to having to construct a telesales script, you'll have to wait the time out while your sales agents dial through cycled call attempts to all of the sales leads or customers on your target list.Withemail marketing, however, you can turn a marketing communications piece out in typically less than two hours.Using recurring email templates, all you'll need to do is to approve the copy for the email and any changes to graphics, use easy database list queries like those available in the Comm100 system to decide whom to send to, and then just hit send. Weeks' of work can be accomplished in just a few hours and by a single employee.Email Marketing Benefits No.2: Real-Time MessagesAs we talked about above, with a print mailer or telesales campaign, you'll need to select marketing campaigns and specials that have a "long tail" because of the extended period of time between campaign development and implementation. Because a marketing email can be completed in just a few hours, you can literally send "day-of" messages to help reduce stock or promote a limited time special as needed. You can even send unique real-time messages to customers that arrive on their birthdays or anniversaries. With email marketing, short time frames are your friend, not your enemy.Email Marketing Benefits No.3: Personalize MessagesBecause print mail campaigns, telesales campaigns and even print, television and radio advertising campaigns must be done in a mostly "one-size-fits-all" format, it's difficult for you to speak directly to your consumer in a personalized way. However, email marketing presents many dynamic opportunities. Not only can you sendpersonalized emailwith your user's name or login name, but many email marketing solutions offer the ability to feed in personalized information such as sales or purchase history. Also, because creating separate email sends is significantly less challenging than creating separate postal mail, print mail or advertising campaigns, you can segment your customer list into smaller lists and send very personalized messages. For example, you can select all of your users or customers who are from New York City and then write your email marketing copy to speak directly about New York City. With email marketing and communications, you can easily speak to your customers in a very personalized and intimate way that is not possible with other marketing channels and avenues.Email Marketing Benefits No.4: Segment User and Customer Database InformationAs noted above, because you can segment your database of customers or users with email, you can send extremely targeted marketing campaigns that will result in increased sales conversions simply because they are so specific. For example, if you sell flowers, you can find everybody in your database who ever bought daffodils and then send them an email in April when the first daffodil shipments come in. You're then using your customer database to put the most relevant message in front of the customers who are most likely to respond to it, and that's what good marketing is all about.Email Marketing Benefits No.5: More Frequent CommunicationsBecause email takes less time to create and send than other marketing and advertising channels do, you can communicate with your customers more frequently. Instead of only being able to send them a flyer or catalog once a month or once a quarter, you can easily send them offers once a week. You could, of course, send them email even more frequently than that if their email activity supports making that decision.You may want to note, however, that it's one of the typicalemail marketing best practicesto not send customer emails more than once a week. However, gone are the days when you were lucky to get a message in front of your customers once a month. Via email marketing, you can communicate with customers weekly or even daily!Email Marketing Benefits No.6: Test Marketing MessagesGood marketing always means being able to test things!With email marketing, it becomes incredibly easy to see what graphics, headlines, offers and even colors your users and customers will respond to.It's incredibly simple to simply send one version of an email to one part of your list and a second version of an email to a different part of your email list. Then, through the very precise tracking tools that email marketing offers, you can figure out which marketing message worked better to convert sales or user actions. We'll talk in detail about both the great tracking tools that email marketing offers as well as common types ofemail testinglater on in this book.Email Marketing Benefits No.7: Information SpreadingWhen was the last time that you saw a customer hand over a postal mailing that they'd received to a friend who might be interested? Or have you have seen somebody clip an ad from a magazine and send it to a family member who may want that product or service? However, forwarding an email with an enticing or useful offer or piece of information only takes seconds and many users will do it. That means that your marketing effort has not only a wider reach but also a networked reach with people who, by forwarding the email, are now acting as your brand advocates.Email Marketing Benefits No.8: Reduce Overhead CostsEmail marketing can be done at a very low overhead cost! You don't need a ton of employees, designers, or marketing analysts. You don't need to pay for printing, postal mailing costs, phone lines, or advertising rates.In fact, there are services, such as Comm100 Email Marketing, that allow you to host your email marketing using professionally-designed templates that you can then just alter to your own needs. An effective email marketing program only needs a great email marketing platform or service and a good marketer who knows how to put the right offers and the right copy and graphics in front of the right portion of your user or customer list. There is no marketing channel in which you'll spend less to get greater returns on your investment than email marketing.Email Marketing Benefits No.9: Exponentially Better Ability to Track Sales and User EngagementThere may be no better marketing channel from which to draw precise and usable tracking information to help you figure out what's successful and what's not than email marketing. Well-developed email marketing platforms such as Comm100 Email Marketing can provide tracking information onhow many people opened an email, how many people clicked a link in an email, which specific link within the email was clicked, how many people complained that an email was spam or unsubscribed and, of course, whether your email even made it into your recipient's inbox.Combine that with a business's ability to track sales back to a source and you can identity customer engagement and response through an entire cycle with clear, easy-to-understand metrics.Email Marketing Benefits No.10: Save the Planet with Email Marketing!It may seem like a minor part of the big picture, but we're all trying to be more environmentally friendly these days! When you optimize email marketing as your primary customer communication and direct-to-consumer or direct business-to-business marketing method, you'll help save the planet by reducing the number of trees killed for print marketing pieces. We all want to help save the planet, and making a responsible decision about your marketing tools can help you to do just that while also improving your business's success.Those are a lot of measurable benefits of email marketing over other marketing channels! Of course, we recommend that email marketing be an important part of your marketing mix not the only ingredient in it. However, as you can see, if you're not incorporating email into your marketing plan, then you're missing out on a number of benefits that can improve your overall sales and user engagement for a very low overhead cost and, in many cases, a very limited amount of time and effort.

The Benefits of Email Marketing CampaignsbyBarry SaundersonOctober 11, 2013inGeneral,LatestE-mail marketing campaigns have becoming increasingly popular as of late. This is because there are so many benefits to engaging in email marketing. In this post I outline some of the benefits of email marketing campaigns.Helps Bring Repeat BusinessSending regular email updates to a companys customers keeps them engaged with the company and lets them know when sales and special events are taking place. This encourages them to shop with the business more often than they may have otherwise.Upselling and Cross SellingE-mail marketing campaigns often encourage upselling and cross selling. People who are already willing to purchase from a company to begin with can often be persuaded to purchase additional goods or services.Sales Conversions IncreasePeople that only visit a companys website once may not be likely to do business with that company. However, people that receive email campaigns are often directed to the website to find out more about what the company has to offer them. Enticing people to do business with a company is a huge part of any email marketing campaign. For that reason the campaigns are designed to make people feel like they must have the goods or services a company is selling.Cost EffectiveE-mailmarketing campaignsare always more cost effective for a company than any other type of marketing campaign. Not only is it cost effective it saves time as well. Marketing through traditional means is a much more time consuming process than a simple email marketing campaign.Global Internet UseMany people that use the Internet check their email every day. This means that it is easier to reach people through email marketing than direct marketing, which involves sending physical mail to people. Since the Internet makes many things easier to do, people are more willing to read the messages that get sent out as part of an email marketing campaign.Opt-In Marketing Is EffectiveWhen people agree to receive the types of emails that stem from email marketing they are opting in. This usually means they are more receptive to purchasing products and services from a particular company. Re-establishing relationships with former customers is harder and more time consuming than keeping customers engaged with a company so that they remain loyal to the company.Spurs CompetitionIn 2012 a survey was performed that determined that 87% of companies that use social media engage in email marketing. Of the 87% that do, 93% of them reported that they would continue to those efforts and would increase the number of email marketing campaigns run. This means that another benefit of an email marketing campaign is that it allows companies to compete with other companies. Those companies that do not use email marketing campaigns may reach the point where they simply cannot compete anymore. This can seal the fate of any business.For all these reasons, it is smart for businesses to engage in email marketing campaigns. Keeping up with the changing times is crucial in the business world.

1. Its SimpleIts easy and its simple. Anyone can do it anytime. This method allows you to use the mailing list which gives you the ability to distribute information to a wide range of specific, potential clients at a low cost to you.2. Low CostIt allows you to eliminate the cost for design, testing, executing, and sending printed newsletters. Also, many people like using email marketing because it supports the green initiative and is paperless.3. Its Easy to TrackA user can track user via analytics, bounce messages, un-subscribers, click-throughs, etc. These can be used to measure open rates, positive or negative responses, and correlates sales with marketing.4.Opt in or Unsubscribe OptionsEmail contains opt in or opt out options this helps you short list your prospects. People that want to hear your message will happily give you their email address. When they are tired of your message, they can unsubscribe at their discretion.5. Fast ResponseLets face it direct mail is slow. It can take anywhere from 7 to 10 days to get a response. Email Marketing however has a response in anywhere between 1 and 3 days, or instantaneous when youre looking at online sales. It can reach a substantial amount of email subscribers in a short amount of time who have consented to receive emails that interest them.6. It has a Global ReachNo matter where you are or when you need to reach people, targeted emails can reach their targets. There are no boundaries with email marketing. Advertisers are able to get repeat business affordable and automatically.7. Highly PersonalEmail allows you to personalize, greet, and target every person personally. By using email marketing segmentation, you can send messages to smaller groups within your larger list to improve results.8. Measurable ResultsSpecial tools are available to you that accurately measure click through rate, conversation rate, how someone arrived at your site, and more. It is reported only second to research marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic.9. Targeted MarketingYou can target a specific audience based on geography, age, income, or whatever suits your needs. Want to send a coupon to the 30-35 year old females in a specific zip code for no extra cost? You cant do that with print marketing..10. InteractiveFinally email marketing is interactive. You can initiate campaigns using videos, graphics, music, quizzes, a game, or anything that will get your targeted client drawn in. Email marketing lets you push a message to your clients, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in.All in all, email marketing is a great way to get the most bang for your buck!

BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #1: TARGET YOUR CUSTOMERSAs a business owner or marketer, I am sure youve heard of target marketing. In a nutshell, not all segments of your customer basewant the same thing. If youre a local retailer that sells mens and womens clothes it probably doesnt make sense to promote dresses to male customers. Or it may not make sense for a business with multiple locations to market a weekend special at its west side store to its east side customers. This problem can be solved with email marketingOne of the benefits ofemail marketingis that it allows you to segment your list based on any demographic, interest or behavioral data you may have collected on your customers. Most email service providers these days allow you to easily segment your subscriber list so that you can send updates on new dresses to your female customers or weekend specials to your west side customers only.BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #2: LEARN WHAT YOUR CUSTOMERS WANTA second benefit of email marketing is that it can help understand what types of content, products or services customers want. Lets return to our example of the local retailer marketing to women. If the retailer sends an email to its female subscribers about a new dress and shoe line and finds that the link to the shoes received no clicks but the link to the dresses received all the clicks, its fair to say the customers are interested in dresses.This can not only help the local retailer with its email marketing efforts by suggesting to the business to only send its female subscribers information on dresses, but it may also help the retailer make purchasing decisions next season when it is stocking its store with new clothes. That is quite a powerful tool.BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #3: STAY TOP OF MINDMany business owners or marketers worry about overwhelming email subscribers. The reality is, consumers have opted-in for your email. They have given you permission to market to them. Dont miss this valuable opportunity to follow through and provide what they asked for.Even if they are not in the market for your product at the time they receive the email, your companys brand or product is going to stay top of mind so that when they are in the market to buy they think of you first.On the other end of the spectrum are those business owners or marketers who let their subscriber lists go inactive. This is the worst thing you can do. This is only going to lead to unengaged subscribers who will eventually drop from your list and potentially as a customer. Dont let this happen and stay top of mind by using the most of your email marketing.BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #4: DRIVE SALESWhether you sell products online or products and services in an actual store, email is great at driving sales. According toExactTarget, 50% of online users bought something as a result of an email which is higher than any other marketing channel. To me, that is one of the most important benefits of email marketing for a business since the ultimate goal is sales. By having immediate access to customers through email a business can advertise sales and promotions or highlight a new product line. If the email is crafted correctly, these timely marketing emails will drive customers to your website or store and eventually lead to sales.BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #5: BUILD LOYALTYConverting leads into customers is an important step in the customer lifecycle. But it is not the end. Turning a first time buyer into a lifetime customer is a crucial step all businesses must achieve. But more often than not, businesses become too focused on acquiring new customers and forget about its current ones. Building loyalty requires time and a willingness to invest. One of the most effective ways marketers can build loyalty is through email marketing.As an example, once a customer purchases something from you, email can be used tosend them a thank youfor their purchase. Later, your business can use email to send your customer information on how he can get the most out of the product he just purchased. Or you could use email to send him a coupon on his birthday or anniversary. And lastly, you can use email to remind your now loyal customer to purchase from you again.Building loyalty doesnt happen overnight but by usingemail marketingbusiness owners and marketers can feel confident in reaching this goal.BENEFITS OF EMAIL MARKETING #6: METRICS, METRICS, AND MORE METRICSOne of the benefits of email marketing that often gets overlooked is that so much can be measured. As a business owner or marketer, justifying your investment in a marketing channel is indispensable. And knowing the outcomes of your marketing is the first step in this process. Email marketing allows you to see those outcomes and compare it against your investment.Email marketing metrics go beyond metrics such as open rates and click throughs (which are still very important). But processes can be put in place that help a local business track how well an email worked.For example, if a local restaurant sends a $5 off coupon through email, the business can collect all the coupons that are redeemed at the store, aggregate the total sales that the coupons brought in and compare the sales to the investment in the email and the coupons. If the investment is higher than the sales, it may be time to try something new. However, if the reverse is true, continuing to use email marketing only makes sense.I hope these six essential benefits of email marketing have convinced you that email marketing should be an integral part of your marketing mix. Ignoring this important marketing channel is a risk I assume you are not willing to take.

Getting StartedA good starting point is to get hold of an email marketing and communication system that has the ability to publish a large number of emails to a specified contact list, store demographic data, and track the results from your campaigns. Im partial to the InSite Message Information System (IMIS) because it does everything youd expect an email campaign system to do plus, it generates instant reports on relevant information such as send rates or link-through rates, and it ties all of your campaign data back into contact information and message history.InSite Messages is a heaven-sent solution whenever I manage online marketing campaigns for survey participation. We also used it to help bring in registrants for our spring and fall conventions, product releases, publication sales, and weekly newsletters to our members. The only thing to remember about bulk emails is this: be mindful about sending meaningful information. Don't inundate your customers inbox with emails containing unnecessary messages.Why Email Marketing and Communication? It doesn't clog your company mail server It's extremely cost-effective and sometimes even FREE Outbound emails can be scheduled and sent automatically Take advantage of email message templates for a professional look Manage your contacts, distribution lists, and subscription links Edit your content directly or insert content from external feeds Easy to read, up-to-the-minute reportsBeyond the BasicsBeyond basic email marketing communications, many news services are now using email campaign management software to send news and bulletins to subscribers. A good email campaign management system will allow you to insert RSS feeds directly into the page that will be emailed to subscription lists. All you have to do is indicate what feeds you want included on your page. You can then schedule when the message or bulletin will be sent, and the feeds will be emailed on a single page to your subscribers.Of course this works well if you have a list of subscribers. If you are using a tool like InSite Messages, you can manage contacts and subscribers and assign contacts to any number of lists. Once your contacts are in the system, you can easily set up unsubscribe links in the body of your messages. If a contact no longer wants to receive emails from you, he can simply click the unsubscribe link and the email campaign software will remove him from future mailings.Below, I have outlined a summary of a few ways businesses and organizations use email campaign software to communicate and market to their stakeholders.Customer Newsletters & Bulletins:Online e-newsletters and bulletins are a great way to connect with customers on new programs, products, and services, as well as communicate other important information about your organization.Employee Newsletters & Bulletins:Internal communication is an important and often overlooked function. Email blasts to employees on new programs, initiatives, products. and services can be a very effective way to communicate what is going on in your organization.Email Marketing Campaigns:Email marketing campaigns are a great way to market new programs, products, services and communicate other important information to your customers.News Services and Announcements:Email event notifications and announcements are also important to communicate to your customers and prospects.Press & Media Releases:Public Relations companies have really picked up on email campaign software to streamline the design and distribution of professional press releases. With a click of a button media contacts can be notified immediately.Whichever direction you decide to take your email marketing, you are sure to keep your customers in the loop and up-to-date on what is going on in your organization. And at the very least it proves you are alive and well and flowing with the ever-changing tides of technology.

ril 9, 2015InEmail Strategy00Email marketing is utilised by thousands of businesses of all sizes across the globe. Those who are unfamiliar with this method of advertising may not immediately understand why it is so popular amongst companies in a variety of industries but here are ten reasons why email marketing is seen by many as vital marketing tool.10. Low-costOne of the most obvious benefits of email marketing is its lower cost compared to mainstream marketing channels. There are no print or postage costs and no fees paid in exchange for exposure on a certain billboard, magazine or television channel. Email marketers might consider investing in specialist software to automate, track and evaluate their emails. Granted, there may be a small overhead for sending thousands of emails at a time, but these costs are far lower than what you would expect to pay using other marketing channels.9. Target fans of your brand The Simplified Guide to Email StrategyEmail marketing is one of the only channels that consumers ask to receive. The majority of businesses utilising the platform only send messages to those who have signed up to receive them. This can allow for much higher conversion rates as a business is only targeting those who already have an interest in their brand. It is, of course, possible to send unsolicited email marketing messages, but this is only likely to annoy consumers and result in a damaged brand image.8. SegmentationMost marketing professionals would happily pay to ensure they were only spending money targeting those who were interested in their brand. Email marketers can go one step further though, by only sending emails to subscribers who meet certain criteria.If a franchise only has an offer on in certain areas of the country, it can easily arranged for emails to be sent only to those living in certain areas. If there is a sale on sports goods, it can be arranged for only those who have shown an interest in sports to receive an email.Email list segmentation works fantastically for brands who gain information about their subscribers. Studies have shown that marketers who use this tactic often boast improved engagement rates as a result.7. Calls to actionEmail marketing is great for taking advantage of impulse buying. There arent many other marketing platforms which allow customers to go from witnessing an offer to purchasing an item within two clicks of a button. With a tempting call to action and a link straight to the checkout, email newsletters can drive sales like no other channel.6. Easy to createEmail marketing doesnt necessarily require a huge team or reams of technical nous in order to be successful. Its certainly possible to jazz up an email campaign with fancy templates, videos, images and logos. Yet, some of the most successful campaigns utilise simple plain text emails, suggesting that its the content of an email that is the most important thing.5. Easy to trackAnother key benefit of email marketing is that its easy to see where youre going wrong. Most email marketing software will allow you to track open, click-through and conversion rates, making it simple to spot how a campaign can be improved. These changes can be made almost immediately too, whereas print or broadcast advertising requires quite a bit of effort to alter.4. Easy to shareSubscribers can forward brilliant deals and offers to their friends at the click of a button. There arent many other types of marketing that can be shared as easily as this. Before you know it, subscribers could become brand evangelists; focused on introducing your business to a new market.3. GlobalWhat other marketing platform lets you instantly send a message to thousands of people across the world? Sure, social media can help you spread the word amongst a global audience but theres no telling whos actually reading your content.2. ImmediacyDue to the immediacy of email, a business can start seeing results within minutes of its emails being sent. A 24-hour sale is a brilliant marketing ploy that can be utilised by email, as it creates a sense of urgency and convinces subscribers to take immediate action. Businesses typically have to wait weeks until they see sales come in as a result of print or broadcast campaigns and, even then, how can they be sure what was responsible for the purchase?1. Return on investmentIn the business world, results are arguably all that matters. With this in mind, the main reason that most businesses invest in email marketing is the fantastic return on investment. In 2011, the Direct Marketing Association estimated that email marketing typically returns 40 for every 1 invested. A number of sources have suggested that this is better than any other platform.When you take into account, the points made above, its easy to see why. Perhaps its time for your business to start taking this marketing platform more seriously

Email marketingis a way to reach consumers directly via electronic mail. Unlike spam, direct email marketing reaches those interested in your business area of expertise. The information is sent out more like a laser-guided missile than a bomb: No matter what youre selling, it is a way to reach thousands of potential customers directly at a relatively low cost when compared to advertising or other forms of media exposure. It brings your business message through an attractive mix of graphics, text and links directly to people who may have never heard of your business or considered your products, but are knowledgeable and interested in your business area of expertise. Once you understandwhat is email marketing?you can start to implementing these practices to reach more customers.Email marketing also provides an easy way to track how effective it is. By keeping track of how many hits your website gets after a mass mailing, its easy to gauge whether this technique works for your company. Its also a good way to guide existing customers back to your business. Many companies also provide an unsubscribe option for viewers in an effort to focus only on interested potential customers. Also, your company can opt to have a feedback mechanism where potential customers can tell you directly what they liked and disliked about a particular advertising campaign.Email marketing is a popular way for businesses to reach customers. According to the Direct Marketing Association, research firms spent over $400 million in 2006 on direct email marketing.Email marketingcan be more than just text, rich media formats can provide images and give your product or service texture and flavor. In email marketing, you have the complete attention of the potential customer. Pop-up ads or other internet advertising often get in the way of what the potential customer is looking at: The content. But with direct email marketing the advertising is the content.The internet is the most popular way for people to gather information about products and services he or she is interested in. Maximizing your business capability to appear in internet searches through press release distribution and email marketing are effective tools in reaching your current customer and potential customers with essential information about your products or services. Its a technique used by businesses worldwide and it can help your enterprise grow and establish a presence on the web.Email NewslettersEmail newsletters are an effective means of keeping your client base informed about the products and services your company offers. The email newsletter can be in the form of a press release, or it can include graphics and information about purchasing a product. Some email newsletters feature a coupon to entice customers to come back or take advantage of a special offer. It can be a regular way for your business to stay in contact with customers.Email SurveysAn email survey is material sent to your clients or potential clients asking for their feedback. Its a great way to test a new product, service or idea. Its also a great way to show the customer that you care about their opinions and are willing to work with them.Top of Form

Email marketing has become an essential tool for business ever since the introduction of the Internet to the world, however some campaigns that make it through to our inboxes are absolute rubbish that we dont take any notice of. This article seeks to explain what email marketing really is, why companies should use it and how they should go about doing so.

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. However, the term is usually used to refer to: Sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business. Sending emails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately. Adding advertisements to emails sent by other companies to their customers.Email marketing has several key advantages over traditional mail marketing, including the following: An exact return on investment can be tracked and has proven to be high when done properly. Email marketing is often reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic. Advertisers can reach substantial numbers of email subscribers who have opted in to receive email communications on subjects of interest to them. Over half of all Internet users check or send email on a typical day. Email allows marketers to reach out to consumers with personalized, relevant, dynamic messages. Transactional emails allow businesses to respond automatically to important consumer events like purchases or shop-cart abandonment.The disadvantages of email marketing surround the rejection/spam rate of the emails by the consumers email program, negatively affecting the delivery rate of the emails. This has somewhat been eliminated with the idea of Opt-in emailing, where the consumer consents to receiving the emails and therefore eliminates the idea of receiving unsolicitated emails Ideally maintaining emails that are relevant and appropriate to each individual recipient.So the questions arewhyandhowshould one go about email marketing? Well here are a few thoughts on the matter:Why? Cost Email marketing is CHEAP, there are no two ways about it. Whether you do it yourself, or through an email marketing agency, marketing to hundreds of consumers via email is going to cost you tiddlywinks compared to other channels of advertising. Success -Emails can be targeting specifically to the ideal consumer. With this concept in mind, along with email cost-effectiveness, its no wonder that email marketings ROI often blows other direct marketing strategies out of the water The trick is that you have to get it right! Measureability and Flexibility With the analytics available today its easy to track responses to your emails exactly, in order to work out what parts of your campaign are working and what parts arent. With this knowledge, you can then react instantly to modify your campaign strategy if need be.How?Dave Chaffey from Marketing Insights offers an experienced view into the success factors of email marketing, using the mnemonic CRITICAL: Creative This refers to the overall design of the email (layout/images/colour). Specifically, it is a good idea to ask each customer whether they would like the emails in text or HTML as there is often a great preference for one over the other. Relevance Targeting, targeting, and more targeting. Make your emails relevent and personalised to each recipient if you want that response rate to rise. Incentive -Recipients look at emails and think WIIFM?, i.e. Whats in it for me??. Theres no such thing as a free lunch right? Well Offer the recipient a free lunch for participating and they will be more likely to respond. Timing Dont send out an email that recipients will receive overnight, let it pop up in their inbox during their working day. This also expands to selecting certain days, months and even years. Remember You can test and measure what timing works best for which email. Integration Companies can not just rely on one method of marketing, nor can they rely on several methods of differentiated marketing. Instead, best marketing practices utilise integrated marketing communication (IMC) where all aspects of their promotion work together to create a whole. Email marketing must be including here, therefore your emails must carry the same image and message as your entire operations. Even the timing of the campaign must work in with other aspects of your marketing mix. Copy When considering the copywriting for your email you must consider all aspects of the language, from subject line through to your mail signature. With emails, not all links should be saved for the last sentence, pop them in early to grab that impulsive customer! Attributes Here Dave talks about the email header, with attributes including the subject line, from address, to address, date/time of receipt and format. Once again, testing your campaigns can rule out the attributes that customers consider spam and highlighting the attributes that will work best for your business. Landing Page Want those emails to turn into sales conversions? Dont just hyperlink your customers to your home page; show them exactly where you want them to go and make it quick and easy to complete any forms!So yes Email marketing is a vital component in many industries, especially for creating those important customer-firm relationships. Learn to use it well and it will definitely bump up your companys success.Just try not to send out another email that goes straight through to my spam folder. And, if the email does manage to make it through to my inbox Make it worthwhile to read!