Intro

So there you are, sipping on your Manhattan at an after hour with a few colleagues and friends. Like every Thursday the discussion focus on your respective business, discussing business strategies and marketing tips. You wait for a pause in the conversation, and you announce that your company is thinking about using e--mail marketing in his next customer acquisition plan. Glasses are put down, and brows are frown all around the table. Isn’t this the reaction you expected? After all, isn’t e-mail marketing a nicer word for spam?

What is e-mail marketing

Spam or not, e-mail has officially become the standard for communicating on the Internet, with the number of e-mails users growing daily. Rarely will you pick up a business card that won’t contain an e-mail address.

E-mail marketing is the practice of sending sales letters or newsletters by e-mail to a coveted audience. While some find it annoying to scour through an inbox full of sales messages, e-mail marketing is one of the most cost-effective campaign a business can run. Every e-mail sent to a potential customer should follow the principles of direct response, meaning each message is to request an action from the receiver: either direct the customer to your website by clicking a link, or simply forging your customer relationship by exposing your brand.

How can it help my business?

A couple of years ago, almost anybody would have been excited to receive a single e-mail. Now in 2006, e-mails communications are under strict laws, not even mentioning the overzealous spam filters that might block your message from finding its recipient.

Risked or not, the benefits associated with e-mail marketing are undeniable:

- Increased response time: Your customer and you can communicate as quickly as it takes to send a quick message, opposed to the delays with traditional phone and mail systems.

- Cost reduction: Contrary to regular mail where a good chunk of your budget is spent on postages costs. E-mails cost only a few cent, and can be sent anywhere in the world.

- Firmer control on your campaign: Electronic tracking makes it much easier to track and analyze the response on an e-mail marketing campaign, than having to wait for the responses from a traditional mail campaign.

Final thoughts on e-mail marketing

Since it’s a thin red line between spam and an official e-mail, you have to be careful. We strongly recommend building a list of e-mail addresses earned through your website, instead of renting a list and blindly send your company’s name to a list of person that most probably do not care about whom you are.

In e-mail marketing, personalization is the key. The more your message is personalized to its recipient, the greater your chances are of building a relationship. It’s about putting the right message in front of the right person, at the right time.