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Email Marketing

Email marketing is an important marketing tool for many Internet marketing companies. Initially it was often used without planning or control, but in recent years it has become a more considered tool.

Email Marketing Definition

Email marketing is the use of email by commercial companies or other organizations to promote or sell products or services. It specifically involves using email via the Internet, as opposed to internal email within an organization.

In many ways email marketing has had a bad press in recent years, much of it justified. Here you will find out how to use email marketing as a positive, reliable and honest tool to reach people who want to be reached.

Purpose of Email Marketing

There are a number of different ways in which email marketing can be used to further a companies interests. Some of these options are in generating immediate sales. Other uses are more subtle and have long term advantages. Examples of email marketing uses include

The use of email to send information about events or products without requiring a direct response.
Extending a brand awareness and knowledge by distributing information via email.
Maintaining interaction, relationships and contact with customers or members of a subscription service.
Gaining new customers or members.
Selling products or services by requiring a direct response to an email.

Benefits of Email Marketing

It is not without reason that email marketing is one of the most widely used marketing techniques used today. It has strong benefits that can’t be ignored. Some of these benefits are outlined below.

Email marketing is relatively cheap to use, especially where large numbers of potential clients are involved.
It offers a quick route to market.
There are no geographical or time limitations.
It is a quantifiable method, where results, cost and performance can easily be measured.
Email marketing provides a ‘push’ or ‘active’ marketing technique, unlike the ‘pull’ or ‘passive’ opportunities presented by a website. With a website you wait for customers to find you, but with email marketing you are actively contacting (validated) customers.
As customers have opted in to receive emails, they are not anonymous, and can be sent personalised messages.

Problems with Email Marketing

Email marketing has a dubious early history that is often difficult to overcome. It was initially used indiscriminately, with lists of email addresses sold over the Internet. This simply alienated the market, and destroyed any good-will that existed. Following that initial free-for-all, email marketing became a more controlled occupation, but by then the damage was done.

It can take considerable time and effort to establish an opt-in list. The process of sending out emails to customers can be highly automated and efficient, but the task of creating an opt-in list of customers who want to receive your emails can be time consuming.

It can be difficult to get genuine email messages past spam filters that are used by many customers.

Email Marketing Legal Considerations

Note – The information below should not be taken as legal advice, and you are strongly advised to consult a qualified legal practitioner before sending commercial emails.

Whatever your legal jurisdiction, there is a requirement to send email messages only to people who wish to receive them.

In the USA, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 allows for the sending of commercial email under tightly controlled conditions which include.

The provision of an authentic land based address.
Inclusion of a valid email return address.
Provision of a one-click unsubscribe link.
A ban on the use of purchased email lists.

US companies should beware sending emails to the UK and Europe where emails meeting US regulations would still be deemed illegal under tighter European laws. Many email addresses targeted by US companies are located in Europe, a fact often overlooked by US email marketing users.

In Europe, email marketing is covered by the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 in the UK, and the wider Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive. In Europe emails may only be sent to opt-in addresses - no free first try as in the US.