Email Marketing - How and Why You Should Be Using it!

As the name suggests, email marketing is a form of marketing done through emails. It is a kind of direct marketing wherein instead of sending actual letters, emails are sent. Email marketing can be of three broad categories.

1. Mails sent for soliciting new customers, or to retain existing customers
2. Mails sent to maintain existing customer relationship and loyalty.
3. Using others’ emails for placing advertisements and sending promotional materials.

Email marketing is also among the most popular forms of marketing. The reasons for this are not too difficult to find. It is a very cheap method of communication for reaching out to tens of thousands of existing and potential customers, as compared to other forms of direct marketing. Unlike websites, where you are dependent on a customer finding you from thousands of other websites, here you directly contact potential and existing customers. When done correctly, email marketing is also among the most effective methods of marketing.

One of the reasons why many online businesses hold email marketing in high regard is due to the high rate of conversions. One of the reasons for this is that it allows targeting of high potential customers. Many email marketing campaigns are conducted based on reliable data derived from previous experience and surveys. Many campaigns are aimed at direct sales, with the sign up form enclosed, which makes it a complete sales tool. Email marketing is also a vehicle for building relationships, trust and loyalty.

It is pertinent to examine the basics of email marketing. The first step is in building a list of potential and existing customers to whom the emails can be sent to. Afterward, a well crafted mail has to be composed, depending on the purpose for which it is intended. Finally, it has to be ensured that the intended recipients do actually receive the emails. Here it is important to note that emails when used as a marketing tool should only be sent after getting permission from the intended recipient, failing which they may end up as spam.

There are different methods of creating email lists. They include renting, buying and creating your own lists. The best forms of lists are the ones which are created on your own, with the permission of the intended recipients. Though renting and buying lists may seem the easy option out, they come with a variety of problems. Payment has to be made each time a rented list is made use of, and you do not get access to the list. On the other hand, a bought list may be a copy which has been sold many times over, and your sending more mails to them would only result in them being treated as spam or worse. These have to be treated with a great deal of caution.

As mentioned earlier, emails can be of different forms, the main ones being email promotions and email newsletters. Many problems are caused when the distinction between the two is not understood. Email promotions refer to mails calling for immediate action such as a purchase, sign up, download or registration. On the other hand, email newsletters aim at building long term relationships. If customers sign up for newsletters and instead receive promotions, there is no need to look further for the reason for the negative results of the campaign.

When an email marketing campaign is crafted with specific regard to the purpose of the campaign, as well as to the interests of the intended recipient, the outcome is often outstanding results. With the many advantages it has got, this modern form of marketing deserves consideration by all internet marketers.

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