Effective Email Marketing
Email marketing is quickly becoming one of
the most popular forms of Internet advertising. This is because there are
many distinct advantages to the concept of email marketing. However,
email marketing does have some
disadvantages as well. In this article we will examine the advantages and
disadvantages of email marketing and will also provide some insight
into how to plan and execute an effective email marketing campaign.
Email marketing certainly has a set of unique advantages over other types
of marketing both online and offline. Perhaps one of the most significant
advantages to email marketing is the ability to reach a worldwide audience
with minimal effort. It is certainly possible to reach a worldwide
audience with other types of advertising but traditional types of
advertising such as television, radio and the print media are not nearly
as effective for reaching potential customers around the world all at
once.
Another major advantage to email marketing is it is extremely affordable.
This is significant because there are many other types of marketing,
including Internet marketing, which are significantly more expensive than
email marketing. The costs associated with
email marketing are minimal.
Ideally you will already have a list of email recipients who are
interested in your products and services so there is no cost associated
with obtaining a list of email addresses. Additionally the cost to send
out emails is minimal and can be considered part of your regular operating
costs. All of these factors already make email marketing extremely cost
effective.
However, there is some cost involved in email marketing. Primarily this is
the costs associated with writing the advertisements and creating any
graphics which will accompany the email advertisements. This will require
hiring a writer to write the copy for the advertisement and a designer to
create and implements the graphics. The cost of these services will vary
pretty widely but in general you will pay more for writers and designers
with more experience. This is because these writers and designers are
expected to be able to produce a higher quality of work than those with
less experience could produce.
The most obvious disadvantage to email marketing is the possibility of
having your email marketing viewed as spam. This is a very important
problem because it could prove to be quite costly in terms of the profit
margin for your business. Each day Internet users are bombarded with
unsolicited emails serving as advertisements. This problem has reached
epic proportions and the abundance of spam infiltrating the email boxes of
innocent Internet users has to be cautious and suspicious about any email
they receive which is unsolicited and appears to be promoting a particular
product or service.
Emails which contain subject lines or content which appear to be similar
to spam may be automatically transferred to a spam email folder by the
email system. Emails which are not automatically deleted may be deleted
without being opened simply because the recipient does not recognize the
sender of the email. Both of these problems can result in essentially
wasted time for the business owner because the recipients are not even
viewing the emails advertising the products and services offered by the
business. Additionally, they may result in complaints being lodged against
the company for being a purveyor of spam.
Now that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of email
marketing, you might wonder how you can maximize the advantages to use
email marketing to your
advantage. The most important factor to consider is your email
distribution list. This should consist of former customers who have
expressed a desire to receive emails with information and advertisements
as well as potential customers who have also expressed interest in more
information.
The content of the emails should also be carefully considered. They should
certainly highlight the products and services you offer but should do so
without appearing to be a hard sales pitch. A writer with experience in
writing this type of copy should be able to assist you in providing
insightful and accurate copy which also entices the reader to find out
more about your products and services. Finally your emails should provide
the readers with a call to action. This should be a statement urging the
reader to take a specific action such as making a purchase or researching
a product.
Combining
Email Marketing with Other Types of Marketing |
Creating Email Lists for Marketing Campaigns
Effective
Email Marketing |
Email
Marketing Mistakes |
Email
Marketing Strategies |
Building a
Highly-targeted Opt in List |
Building An Opt-In List And Affiliate Marketing
|
