you are here: Homepage > Online Marketing > Email Marketing  >        Email  Marketing: How We Can Help You.... Customised HTML Opt In Mail Campaigns Creation of Website Member Newsletter Tell a Friend/ Share Across Social Networks Writing Compelling Sales Offers Training and Knowledge Transfer Service   Contact Us with Your Requirements              Overview of Email Marketing   Introduction - email is a central part of most internet users needs.  In has changed the behaviour of Corporate employees who habitually need to check they have not missed an important message from a customer or their boss, when they sit down at their desk in the morning.  Email has opened up the world to instant messaging, accelerated business rumours for better or worse, become a social networking fad for teenagers.  Love it or loath - it its here to stay.  For small business owners email marketing provides the ability to contact a huge number of prospects at very little cost, anywhere on the planet. It is a form of direct marketing and should ethically be used to communicate with existing customers or prospects that are expecting and want to receive important messages.  In 2008 over $500 million was spent on email marketing. Business Benefits of Email Marketing - the main business advantages of using e-mail as a form of marketing are:- Predictability - an accurate return on investment figure can be measured and understood by simply tracking each email campaign against a specially set up destination web page.  When the user clicks on any links contained in the email message (to find out more), they can be taken to that specially set up 'special offer' webpage.   For instance, the cost of webpage graphic design, increases in a specific stock level supported with dedicated call centre staff, can all be offset against profits generated from that tracked email campaign. The exact return on investment can easily be calculated.  New products can be tested and re-tested to see what messages work and to which interest groups. Low cost delivery - webmasters can send thousands of e-mails an hour at only the cost of a simple email marketing software tool (typically £100). Compared to producing thousands of expensive brochures, leaflets and other marketing materials, only one e-mail message needs to be created and distributed to an unlimited number of people. Instant Delivery - most people tend to check their email on a very regular basis and so there is only a limited delay of minutes before an email can be delivered directly to a potential prospect.  For time sensitive offers such as last minute ticket sales this form of marketing is invaluable. Increases Sales and Profits - it is used to increase company awareness by existing customers who may also be interested in additional products and services.   Customers who have opted in to receive a regular newsletter on issues of interest to them find huge value in receiving information in their inbox and not having to trawl the internet to find it.   If an existing customer receives regular notifications form a company they're memory is jogged and they are more likely to re-purchase than a cold prospect who knows nothing about the company. Business Drawbacks of Email Marketing - the main drawbacks of using the email as a primary method of marketing are as follows:- Is it Spam? - most Internet users today are deluged by huge volumes of unwanted spam e-mail. Despite being introduction of news laws and practically that of 'anti spam' software such as Norton or MacAfee, it seems this problem is only set to become worse as the spammers technology constantly changes. It is highly likely a valid business message sent to a user who actually opted to receive it may get lost/ automatically moved to anti spam email boxes or simply mistaken a spam by the poor deluged end user. Difficulty in Creating an 'Opt In' email marketing list - if customers choose to receive messages from your website in the future they have usually ticked a box on your website (and may even chosen to receive customised emails in the areas of particular interest to them). However, if you are creating a new website for the first time and therefore do not have an opt in list, you will have to spend time, effort and money in getting a list built up. You may choose to try and to encourage people to subscribe to your online newsletter by posting interesting articles or offering the chance to win some kind of prize. This can be very time consuming. Alternatively, if you choose to buy the list of thousands of e-mail addresses.  This is very risky... it is very difficult to know where these originally were collected from. Unfortunately, some spammers simply 'harvest' email addresses and unethically market them as an 'opt in list'. Legal Ramifications - it is generally illegal and certainly unethical to send a spam e-mail. The legal framework across the world varies by country but common principles seem to apply across these framework. Even an email sent by you by mistake of may break local Data Communications laws as it may be considered spam. Therefore, it is critical that when you send email you:- Ensure no email is sent to personal email addresses (unless they have opted to receive it) Email sent to up the businesses email address are properly addressed with a physical reply to email address Clearly relevant what to the business recipient i.e. you are selling 'nuts' and the recipient is selling 'bolts'. An 'opt out message' or instructions on how to opt out exist at the bottom of the e-mail Ensure it is customised to the individual according to their opt in requirements i.e. any special offers relate to a specified interest back to top Copyright IntelligentMarketing.org.uk 2008