Email Marketing Resources

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing. Every email which one receives in their inbox which describes the promotions of the various products is a type of marketing via email. However, the term is usually used to refer to:

Sending e-mails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business;
Sending emails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately;
Adding advertisements to emails sent by other companies to their customers; and
Sending e-mails over the Internet, as email did and does exist outside the Internet (e.g. network email and FIDO).

What purpose does email marketing serve?

Email marketing’s purpose includes:

To build and maintain customer relationships and to enhance customer loyalty;
To acquire new customers, or to convince old customers to return;
To build trust, and educate customers;
To maintain regular contact with the customers;
To increase sales.

Email marketing can be used:

To send out brief announcements - email marketing is a great way to announce special offers, promote new products and services, or inform clients of any service issues they may face. These announcements should only have a single call to action.
To send out email newsletters - email newsletters are a great way to build upon relationships with customers. They allow a business to provide their customers with relevant, useful content that they may be interested in, inform them about upcoming events or promotions or let them know what has been going on within the business.
To send out press releases - email marketing can be used to send out press releases to local media contacts who the business has gained permission from.
As a sales tool - email marketing can be used to promote and sell products and services. By including calls to action in a customer’s email message, such as directing them to an online store, or a link to arrange a consultation, email marketing can generate new leads for a business.

How can legitimate email and spam email marketing be distinguished?

Both email marketing and email spam are basically advertisements or messages that people would like to convey with others. Both are common on the internet and are often received by users with an email address. However, what draws the line between the two?

Unsolicited commercial email vs. permission based marketing

Basically, spam, also known as unsolicited commercial email is an email that gets delivered to users’ email inboxes on a large scale without the users’ permission. They are targeted to anyone regardless of their interests in the email contents. Generally what happens is that email addresses are harvested via forums and other internet means. These email addresses are compiled into an email list and sold off to companies and businesses which will send out adverts to them.

Generally spammers will not allow users to unsubscribe. Spamming is a bad internet marketing practice because it infringes on personal space and privacy. Email marketing or permission based marketing however is different. This is the capturing or creation of email lists with the users’ consent, as they believe that in return they will receive valuable information.
Once again the fine line here is that even if they give out their email address they will avoid spam-only sales letters and advertisements. Proper email marketing is providing the audience with relevant and valuable information along with the products and services requested, that relate to each other.

Is the double opt-in method effective?

There are several reasons why double opt-in is necessary. The double opt-in confirms that the person who entered their email address actually wants to subscribe to the list. If this extra confirmation is not present (single opt-in) then any person could enter any email address to sign-up any other person.

What are the most effective strategies a business can use when they want to design an email marketing campaign?

The most effective way that a client can create an email marketing campaign is to thoroughly test their strategies. Ensure that every email that is sent out can be viewed through each of the varied email platforms i.e. Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo Mail, Eudora etc. The email platforms, specifically the web-based ones such as Hotmail and Gmail do contain strict regulations that analyse every incoming email message. Various styles, text formats and images that do not display correctly can vary from one platform to another. Here are some strategies that can help a client to design and build their pro-active email marketing campaign.

Try to use text in every emails, rather than images. If the text is embedded within the images, it is highly unlikely that the email will pass through the majority of the subscribers’ spam filters.
Try not to design an email that is wider than 500-600 pixels, or not equivalent to any website display. Bear in mind that the customers’ email platforms will vary and monitor each resolution setting. If an organisation keeps the design of their email within the 500-600 pixels width, they are more likely to design a medium that will work effectively to attract each of their subscribers.
Try to keep the email message short. Bullet points should be utilised, where possible. Most subscribers are unlikely to read a lengthy message that is contained in the body of an email, so by using bullet points the main text within the email is highlighted and this can prove to work as an effective strategy and may ensure that the subscribers read more.
Think about using effective words in the subject line. The email subject box should use appropriate words to entice all subscribers to open the email. Try to keep the subject box text short, but always to the point.