Why E-Mail Marketing?

E-Mail marketing refers to sending commercial messages to Internet users through electronic mail. A type of direct marketing, e-mail marketing essentially involves the following activities:

• Promotion of new products online,
• Sending commercial messages to existing and potential customers and trying to win their loyalty,
• Advertising through e-mail (even if it is for a third party),
• Sometimes, fundraising messages also come under the scope of e-mail marketing.

Why is E-Mail Marketing Important?
E-mail marketing is used by a lot of companies these days as a major promotional tool. This is because the technology enables the company to permeate remote corners of the globe at a relatively low cost in comparison to other forms of publicity, advertising, or communication. The customers can be tracked and the time of delivery is almost instantaneous. A method of proactive marketing, in comparison to other forms of Internet marketing expenditure of resources is low and subscribers can communicate back to the companies if they are interested.
Strategies Involved in E-Mail Marketing

E-mail marketing is effective when it is done according to some successful strategies. The following are some of the strategies that can be applied:

• Targeting the audience: This is the first strategy. People will be interested in products that are of specific use to them. Observing client behavior and getting information about their professions and lifestyles will prove helpful in sending e-mails that are of relevance to them. Sending about kid’s fashion wear to an elderly person might not generate a lot of response.
• Value of the offer: Mentioning the benefits of the offer and how they are unique and advantageous in comparison to those offered by other companies in the same industry can prove to attract a lot of client response. The offer should have some perceived value.
• Repetition: Constantly reminding the target audience of a product in periodic intervals will keep it fresh in their memories. Even for conventional buyers, when they go to the market, they will remember this product more than the others.
• Compelling subject lines: The presentation of a product should be very attractive. The words used for advertising or promotion should be true as well as forceful. There should be a punch in the lines and they should have an influencing effect on the target audience.
• Tracking: It is a method in which the target audience is tracked for the links that he or she clicks. URL tracking and CGI tracking are a couple of methods by which this is done. There are a lot of analytical tracking services and software that help you to track the websites that are visited by your target audience often.

How to write effective e-mails?

As e-mail marketing is all about communicating with a client through e-mails, it is the only tool that you have with you to impress your audience and make them buy your products or services. For that you have to write mails that are really effective. Though every company will have its own style of promoting itself there are a few guidelines that need to be followed:

• Targeting the audience, i.e., finding out the probable people who would be interested in your products or services and sending them mails stands a greater probability of generating positive response.
• Personalizing the content, i.e., by addressing the target audience by their names and writing in a friendly manner is sure to attract more people. This will also ensure that your mails are not considered as spam mails by the e-mail service provider.
• The subject lines of the mail play a very important role. Taking care that they do not sound like spam, the subject lines and the headlines of the e-mail should be lucrative.
• Giving the target audience the option of unsubscribing is another way in which you can draw a huge crowd.
•  All the e-mails sent should be tested and tracked for the rate of success and any rectifications should be made accordingly.

How to Start E-Mail Marketing?

Starting e-mail marketing is not about simply sending e-mails at random to people. This will only result in spamming which is illegal and unethical. Going for an opt-in e-mailing system should be developed and it is well accepted by the Internet users. The opt-in method of mailing basically involves sending solicited mails to recipients. This method is seen to generate a much greater positive response in comparison to sending unsolicited mails which, on the contrary, generate a negative image about the organization sending the e-mails.

• An opt-in mailing list should be first rented, purchased, or prepared. The first option is always to make your own opt-in mailing list of the target audience that you would like to address. This might be time consuming but this is the one that yields the best results. Otherwise, the opt- in lists can be purchased. But if you are going by a budget you can also rent opt-in mailing lists.
• Another method of starting e-mail marketing is by offering a course via e-mail and asking people to subscribe for it. Interested recipients will get back to the sender.
• Ezines are one of the most effective ways to reach out to people. Submitting ads in ezines are really helpful in reaching out to a wide target audience. Ezines are a cost effective way of getting your message across to people and are best suited for small businesses.
• Joining an e-mail newsletter network and sending newsletters to the target audience is another effective way of promoting your company, the products that you sell and the services that you offer.
• Writing opinion-based articles on the benefits of a product, writing out product reviews, publishing them, and sending these links to the target audience is going to help much in getting a positive response.

Avoid Spamming
Spamming is sending unsolicited e-mails to Internet users. There are very strict laws against e-mail spamming. The sender can be banned and penalized in the strictest ways possible. Spamming can be avoided in a number of ways:

• The e-mail addresses of the target audience should be clearly mentioned at the time of collection of the list.
• The recipient should be given an opt-out or an unsubscribe option.
• To existing customers only mails pertaining to the items they usually purchase should be sent. Distribution of unsolicited information should be avoided.
• For sharing e-mail addresses permission should be taken from the concerned authorities.
• Harvesting of e-mails, i.e., copying e-mail addresses of the target audience from websites and using them without their permission is strictly prohibited. 
• The user should be given the liberty to stop his/her solicitation to the mails.
• The sender should never send e-mails under a disguised identity. 
• The opt-out option should be given in clear terms with each and every mail sent to the recipient.
• When a recipient sends an opt-out message, his or her decision should be honored. The contact details should be suppressed rather than being deleted.

Conclusion

E- mail marketing is one of the most effective methods used for promoting products and services. As it can reach millions of people all over the world at a low cost in comparison to other methods of conventional and online promotions, it is being resorted to by a lot of people. Armed with strategies and writing out effectively can help in gaining a good audience response. E-mail marketing can be started in a number of ways. While sending marketing mails care should be taken to avoid spamming.
There are many ways to make your offer exciting that your clients cannot refuse. For example, provide them useful information, unbiased reviews (especially of technical gadgets, appliances, etc.) and the client will come back to your site looking for more.

Tags: E-mail marketing, e-mail newsletter, Email Marketing and its effectiveness, Ezines, opt-in email list, spamming