In this world of Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites which seem to appear every week it is easy to overlook good old email (remember that?) as part of your ongoing marketing strategy. Email marketing is an effective strategy which makes use of emails as a medium through which to provide clear communication between your company and your intended target audience. As is the case with other marketing channels, email marketing will have both its advantages and disadvantages.
One of the biggest advantages of email marketing is that it is very affordable and cost effective when used correctly. In fact, it can be even more effective than direct mail marketing or telemarketing. All that is required is a reliable means of delivering emails.
As there are laws in place to prevent email addresses getting ’spammed’ the safest route you can take is to run your campaign through a proven email marketing company. These companies will assist you in delivering a targeted campaign as well as advising you on the best course of strategy to ensure that as high a percentage of of emails will get through to your audience as possible. Not only will you be able to send out mass marketing emails but you will also be able to track which emails have been opened and how many people are responding to them.
One of the best things about email marketing is that you can schedule your emails to be sent way in advance. The delivery of these emails will only take a few seconds.
There are of course a few downsides to using email marketing, the main one being that many companies find that the percentage of people who respond to their emails is lower than the percentage who will respond to other methods of communication such as direct mail marketing or telemarketing. The current popularity of email marketing suggests that this doesn’t put off companies from using it most likely due to the fact that it is such a cheap means of advertising.
The largest barrier you will have to overcome is acquiring a list of email addresses of people to market to. This is why email marketing is often a long term plan. An effective means by which you can build up a mailing list is by adding them when they buy something from you. Alternatively you may wish to offer some sort of incentive in return for signing up to a mailing list such as a free service or product. For example, some marketing websites will offer a free ebook in exchange for signing up to their mailing lists. If you have a bit of money to spare then you may wish to rent an email marketing list from a specialist list broker. These lists are highly targeted and will fit a demographic matching your particular criteria. This may include people who live in a certain area, have bought products which are similar to the ones you are selling or perhaps are of a certain age range.
If you are a looking to buy or rent a list then make sure you are working with a reputable broker who has an established track record and can prove that the email lists they provide wont contravene any laws surrounding email ’spam’.
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