Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that involves sending email to potential customers to sell products or services, or to raise funds. Major investments of time and money are required to manage email marketing campaigns and to ensure that they conform to international standards and laws. Efforts have to be made to avoid anti-spam filters and to ensure high delivery rates.  

1. Advantages of email marketing

Email marketing is a fast and cost-effective method of reaching current and potential customers. Advertisers can send messages to potential customers, instead of waiting for visitors to view Web pages. The return on investment can be tracked by means of read receipts, click-throughs, autoresponders, unsubscribe requests, bounce messages, etc.

Direct email marketing can help to generate repeat business automatically and at an affordable price. The interaction of a reader with an email message can automatically trigger actions like updating the profile of the person to include areas of interest or sending other relevant messages. 

Advertisers can reach lots of people who have opted to receive email messages on subjects that interest them. Email messages can be delivered at distant locations within seconds, at almost no cost, and these eco-friendly messages don’t use paper.

2. Disadvantages of email marketing

Some advertisers send unsolicited bulk email or spam, which violates the law and can lead to severe penalties. The website or account of a spammer can be suspended by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the spammer may not have any recourse, because this is usually part of the contract.

Advertisers need to make sure that their email campaigns are not in violation of the various anti-spamming laws, like the CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) of the United States, and the European Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.  

Advertisers also need to be sure that their email advertising campaigns comply with the acceptable use policies of their ISPs, to avoid getting blacklisted. Sending commercial email messages only to people who have opted to receive them can help to avoid these problems.

3. Email marketing software

Bulk email marketing software helps advertisers to send newsletters or promotional content to people who have opted to receive them. It can also be used to send unsolicited mail.

The software normally includes a database of contacts and can perform all the actions required to run an email campaign, including sending messages, importing contacts, tracking, and reporting.

Email software may need to be installed on one or more servers with a 24-hour Internet connection, and dedicated employees may be needed to manage it. Besides, you will have to ensure compliance with international standards and laws.

A shopping cart can also be used to send promotional e-mails. It may help you to manage certain aspects of your email marketing campaign, though it will not provide a comprehensive e-mail marketing package.  

4. Email marketing systems

You can sign up for an online email marketing system or email marketing service and use it to manage your campaign. There is no need to download software or to have any technical knowledge. You can access your data from anywhere by means of a browser and can even use a slow Internet connection to access your account.
 
You can use an html editor, or use readymade templates to create personalized email campaigns. The system will allow you to manage your email list and will include functions like filtering and unsubscribe options. You can create email templates in html or text and can archive as many templates as you like. Scheduled mailing can help you to manage regular correspondence customers easily.

Autoresponders can automatically send information to customers who open email, and customer responses can be tracked and analyzed in real time to generate reports.

The business email marketing system will help to ensure that your campaign will comply with the law. It will maintain relationships with all major ISPs and ensure white listing. Besides, there is no need to make major investments in software and hardware, or to hire staff. 

5. Getting the email frequency right

Sending promotional e-mail frequently can lead to lower open and click rates, and increasing the frequency beyond a certain level can lead to unsubscribe requests or withdrawal of permission to market. Though email marketers use different strategies to decide about the right frequency, it may be preferable to send fewer e-mails to people who don’t respond.

E-mail marketers often try direct mail marketing with people who don’t respond to email. Attempts can be made to get a better response by educating people about the value being offered. The impact of frequency on the response received to different offers needs to be systematically monitored.

Targeted email marketing can help to boost sales, but promotional email should only be sent to existing customers or people who opt in, at intervals they are comfortable with.

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