E-mail 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 e-mail sent to a potential or current customer could be considered e-mail marketing. 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 old customers and to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business.
•Sending e-mails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing old customers to buy something immediately.•Adding advertisements in e-mails sent by other companies to their customers.
•E-mails that are being sent on the Internet (E-mail did and does exist outside the Internet, Network E-mail, FIDO etc.) Researchers estimate that US firms alone spent $400 million on e-mail marketing in 2006.
•an exact Return on investment can be tracked (“track to basket”) and has proven to be high when done properly. E-mail marketing is often reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic; •it is instant, as opposed to a mailed advertisement, an e-mail arrives in a few seconds or minutes;
•it lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in; •it is easy to track. An advertiser can track users via web bugs, bounce messages, un-subscribes, read-receipts, click-throughs, etc. These can be used to measure open rates, positive or negative responses, correlate sales with marketing;
•advertisers generate repeat business affordably and automatically; •advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have opted in (consented) to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them;
•Sending e-mails with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing old customers to buy something immediately.•Adding advertisements in e-mails sent by other companies to their customers.
•E-mails that are being sent on the Internet (E-mail did and does exist outside the Internet, Network E-mail, FIDO etc.) Researchers estimate that US firms alone spent $400 million on e-mail marketing in 2006.
Advantages
E-mail marketing (on the Internet) is popular with companies because •the advantage of a mailing list is clearly the ability to distribute information to a wide range of specific, potential customers at a relatively low cost using services;•compared to other media investments such as direct mail or printed newsletters, it is less expensive;•an exact Return on investment can be tracked (“track to basket”) and has proven to be high when done properly. E-mail marketing is often reported as second only to search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic; •it is instant, as opposed to a mailed advertisement, an e-mail arrives in a few seconds or minutes;
•it lets the advertiser "push" the message to its audience, as opposed to a website that waits for customers to come in; •it is easy to track. An advertiser can track users via web bugs, bounce messages, un-subscribes, read-receipts, click-throughs, etc. These can be used to measure open rates, positive or negative responses, correlate sales with marketing;
•advertisers generate repeat business affordably and automatically; •advertisers can reach substantial numbers of e-mail subscribers who have opted in (consented) to receive e-mail communications on subjects of interest to them;
•over half of Internet users check or send e-mail on a typical day; •specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other messages to be automatically delivered;
•specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other events such as updating the profile of the recipient to indicate a specific interest category; and •green - e-mail marketing is paper-free.
Internet system administrators have always considered themselves responsible for dealing with "abuse of the net", but not "abuse on the net". That is, they will act quite vigorously against spam, but will leave issues like libel or trademark infringement to the courts. Most administrators passionately hate spam, which they define as any unsolicited e-mail. Draconian measures – such as taking down a corporate website with or without warning – are an entirely normal response to spamming. Typically, the "Terms of Service" in Internet companies' contracts allow this, so the spammer has no recourse.
Illicit e-mail marketing antedates legitimate e-mail marketing, since on the early Internet it was not permitted to use the medium for commercial purposes. As a result, marketers attempting to establish themselves as legitimate businesses in e-mail marketing have had an uphill battle, hampered also by criminal spam operations billing themselves as legitimate.
It is frequently difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam e-mail marketing. First off, spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate operators, obfuscating the issue. Second, direct-marketing political groups such as the U.S. Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have pressured legislatures to legalize activities which some Internet operators consider to be spamming, such as the sending of "opt-out" unsolicited commercial e-mail. Third, the sheer volume of spam e-mail has led some users to mistake legitimate commercial e-mail (for instance, a mailing list to which the user subscribed) for spam – especially when the two have a similar appearance, as when messages include HTML and flashy graphics.Due to the volume of spam e-mail on the Internet, spam filters are essential to most users. Some marketers report that legitimate commercial e-mails frequently get caught by filters, and hidden; however, it is somewhat less common for e-mail users to complain that spam filters block legitimate mail.
Companies considering an e-mail marketing program must make sure that their program does not violate spam laws such as the United States’' CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act), the European Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 or their Internet provider's acceptable use policy. Even if a company follows the law, if Internet mail administrators find that it is sending spam it is likely to be listed in blacklists such as SPEWS.
•specific types of interaction with messages can trigger other events such as updating the profile of the recipient to indicate a specific interest category; and •green - e-mail marketing is paper-free.
Disadvantages
Many companies use e-mail marketing to communicate with existing customers, but many other companies send unsolicited bulk e-mail, also known as spam.Internet system administrators have always considered themselves responsible for dealing with "abuse of the net", but not "abuse on the net". That is, they will act quite vigorously against spam, but will leave issues like libel or trademark infringement to the courts. Most administrators passionately hate spam, which they define as any unsolicited e-mail. Draconian measures – such as taking down a corporate website with or without warning – are an entirely normal response to spamming. Typically, the "Terms of Service" in Internet companies' contracts allow this, so the spammer has no recourse.
Illicit e-mail marketing antedates legitimate e-mail marketing, since on the early Internet it was not permitted to use the medium for commercial purposes. As a result, marketers attempting to establish themselves as legitimate businesses in e-mail marketing have had an uphill battle, hampered also by criminal spam operations billing themselves as legitimate.
It is frequently difficult for observers to distinguish between legitimate and spam e-mail marketing. First off, spammers attempt to represent themselves as legitimate operators, obfuscating the issue. Second, direct-marketing political groups such as the U.S. Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have pressured legislatures to legalize activities which some Internet operators consider to be spamming, such as the sending of "opt-out" unsolicited commercial e-mail. Third, the sheer volume of spam e-mail has led some users to mistake legitimate commercial e-mail (for instance, a mailing list to which the user subscribed) for spam – especially when the two have a similar appearance, as when messages include HTML and flashy graphics.Due to the volume of spam e-mail on the Internet, spam filters are essential to most users. Some marketers report that legitimate commercial e-mails frequently get caught by filters, and hidden; however, it is somewhat less common for e-mail users to complain that spam filters block legitimate mail.
Companies considering an e-mail marketing program must make sure that their program does not violate spam laws such as the United States’' CAN-SPAM Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act), the European Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 or their Internet provider's acceptable use policy. Even if a company follows the law, if Internet mail administrators find that it is sending spam it is likely to be listed in blacklists such as SPEWS.
Opt-in E-mail Advertising
Opt-in e-mail advertising or permission marketing is a method of advertising via electronic mail whereby the recipient of the advertisement has consented to receive it. It is one of several ways developed by marketers to eliminate the disadvantages of e-mail marketing.E-mail has become a very popular mode of communication across the world. It has also become extremely popular to advertise through. Some of the many advantages of advertising through e-mail are the direct contact with the consumer and is “inexpensive, flexible, and simple to implement” (Fairhead, 2003). There are also disadvantages attached to e-mail advertising such as, alienating the consumer because of overload to messages or the advertisement getting deleted without getting read.
Permission e-mail marketing may evolve into a technology that uses a handshake protocol between sender and receiver (Fairhaed, 2003). This system is intended to eventually result in a high degree of satisfaction between consumers and marketers. If opt-in e-mail advertising is used, the material that is e-mailed to consumers will be “anticipated.” It is assumed that the consumer wants to receive it, which makes it unlike unsolicited advertisements sent to the consumer (often referred to as spam). Ideally, opt-in e-mail advertisements will be more personal and relevant to the consumer than untargetted advertisements.
A common example of permission marketing is a newsletter sent to a firm’s customers. Newsletters like this are a way to let customers know about upcoming events or promotions, or new products. In this type of advertising, a company that wants to send a newsletter to their customers may ask them at the point of purchase if they would like to receive this newsletter.
With a foundation of opted-in contact information stored in a database, marketers can automatically send out promotional materials. The marketers can also segment their promotions to specific market segments.
Permission e-mail marketing may evolve into a technology that uses a handshake protocol between sender and receiver (Fairhaed, 2003). This system is intended to eventually result in a high degree of satisfaction between consumers and marketers. If opt-in e-mail advertising is used, the material that is e-mailed to consumers will be “anticipated.” It is assumed that the consumer wants to receive it, which makes it unlike unsolicited advertisements sent to the consumer (often referred to as spam). Ideally, opt-in e-mail advertisements will be more personal and relevant to the consumer than untargetted advertisements.
A common example of permission marketing is a newsletter sent to a firm’s customers. Newsletters like this are a way to let customers know about upcoming events or promotions, or new products. In this type of advertising, a company that wants to send a newsletter to their customers may ask them at the point of purchase if they would like to receive this newsletter.
With a foundation of opted-in contact information stored in a database, marketers can automatically send out promotional materials. The marketers can also segment their promotions to specific market segments.
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