Email Based Marketing

An email based marketing campaign can be a relatively inexpensive strategy for a business to use as part of a larger program. Sending well-designed emails to a list of targeted consumers cost much less than mailing promotional materials the old-fashioned way. Even when considering the costs of using a third party to take care of the details, emails cost less per person than bulk mail rates. Additionally, it takes much less time to send out the email messages than to sort and package materials that are being sent by bulk mail. The postal service has strict guidelines that have to be followed as far as sorting, counting, and labeling pieces that are being sent bulk delivery. This can be a very time-consuming task to get it right. In contrast, once the message is designed, little effort is required to get it emailed to the distribution list. The lower cost and efficiency of promotional emails are easy to see. But these benefits can also be drawbacks. Some businesses may be tempted to send multiple (and annoying) messages to every email address that can be found. But this isn't a legitimate email based marketing strategy it's spam. Instead of meeting specific objectives, spam-like messages irritate the recipients who seem them. Other potential recipients set up filters so that such messages never get into their inboxes. Legitimate businesses understand the importance of good customer relations and won't be involved in sending spam.

A company may have different reasons for creating an email based marketing campaign. The objective may be to attract new customers or to motivate previous customers to make additional purchases. Another objective is to encourage customer loyalty. Different emails should be designed for each objective. For example, a website that sells garden tools and supplies may rent a distribution list of people who are known to be interested in gardening. The company sends a message to these potential customers promoting a special offer for first-time orders. Perhaps the company will send a free packet of flower seeds along with each order from a new customer. The new customers are added to a separate distribution list which is sent a message that includes a coupon for a discount on a future order placed by a certain date. With this two-pronged, email based marketing approach, the garden supply store has met the objectives of attracting new customers and motivating them to make additional purchases. Customer loyalty can also be achieved by sending out periodic coupons or other special offers. People are creatures of habit. Once they make purchases from an online store, they are more likely to return to that same site for additional items as long as the shopping, checkout, and delivery experiences were positive ones.

Because people like to do business with companies they are comfortable with, savvy email based marketing experts understand that it's much cheaper and easier to keep loyal customers than it is to attract new ones. Customer loyalty programs are popular for this very reason. Still, the business has to walk a fine line between providing information on special offers and being a nuisance. One method for keeping the company name in front of likely buyers without causing annoyance to them is to provide valuable and relevant information. The online garden store of the previous example has a golden opportunity to develop loyalty by emailing monthly newsletters to its customer distribution list. Each month's newsletter can include seasonal information on caring and tending for the garden, highlight specific plants, provide reviews of new gardening supplies, and offer discounts on certain items. Gardening enthusiasts will appreciate this type of email based marketing information and will most likely continue to make purchases at the garden online store, especially when the growing season draws near. "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell" (Song of Solomon 2:11-13a).

The above example shows how important it is to develop a strategic email based marketing campaign that focuses on specific objectives and that is targeted to specific recipients. Distribution lists can be rented or bought that meet certain demographic criteria or that are based on a common interest, such as gardening. Businesses can develop their own distribution lists by giving website visitors an incentive for providing their contact information. Perhaps the website offers a coupon or some type of questionnaire in return for a name and email address. Or perhaps the website invites the visitor to sign up for a periodic newsletter (again, as in the garden online store example). By subscribing to the website's newsletter, the visitor gives permission for the website company to send emails. Some websites provide a double opt-in process to ensure that the visitor really does want to receive the information that is being offered. As a caveat to the webmaster, such messages should also include an unsubscribe option for recipient. With the proper software applications or by contracting with a web-based bulk email vendor, the company can keep track of multiple distribution lists and design multiple automated messages. The software program or web-based vendor should also have the capability to show various statistics to the company that evaluates the effectiveness of different messages and relevant information on the recipients. By having a strategic plan, any business can develop an effective email based marketing campaign that won't be mistaken for annoying spam.