According to Wikipedia,- the term 'email marketing' 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

• to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business,

• acquiring new customers or

• convincing current customers to purchase something immediately,

• Adding advertisements to e-mails sent by other companies to their customers, and

In plain English - Email Marketing is a form of Direct Marketing which uses email to send targeted messages, information or offers to a designated set of prospective or current customers. It can be used to send commercial as well as non profit messages which distribute information to a wide range of audiences.

We hope the above information was useful for those who are unfamiliar with Email Marketing.

Does Email Marketing really work?

We offer the following statistics to support the effectiveness of Email Marketing:

• According to Research done by DMA, Email's ROI in 2008 was $45.06 for every dollar spent.

• Email drove an average of $0.14 in revenues per delivered message. - Epsilon "Q3 2008 Email Trends and Benchmark" (Jan 2009)

• 44% of respondents in a consumer survey said that email from financial services companies make them feel more loyal towards the companies and their products - Epsilon (Oct 2008)

• 55 percent of the respondents cite that they expect ROI from email to be higher than any other channel. - Datran Media, "Marketing & Media Survey" (2008)

• Email is delivering sales at an average cost per order of less than $7, compared to $71.89 for banner ads, $26.75 for paid search and $17.47 for affiliate programs. - Shop.org, State of Retailing Online 2007 report (Sept. 2007)

• 67% of respondents prefer email as a communications channel over other online vehicles and 65 percent believe this will continue to be the case in five years. - Habeas (2008)

• 80% of Marketers Report Email Is Strongest Performing Media Buy Ahead of Search and Display. - Datran Media, "Marketing & Media Survey" (2008)

So why does it work?

• It hits the bull's eye

• It helps in visitor behavior analysis

• It is sales driven

• It is a relationship builder

Email marketing can be effective for businesses of all types and sizes. There are hundreds of great and powerful email automation programs available for email marketing. Email can even be customized down to an individual recipient basis with the help of advanced tools. The results of email campaigns are immediate e.g. sales, downloads, inquiry forms or whatever is the goal.

Email Marketing is still the preferred Marketing Vehicle because it is:

1. Focused: Email marketing allows you to customize your pitch according to the segment you are targeting. For example you want to sell to 'Computer Training Schools', you can create an email list of Computer schools in the area or areas you want to focus on. You can send out an email which addresses computer school pains which your business can help or provide a remedy for. Therefore email marketing can help you communicate with various segments of your customers by customizing your pitch.
   

It's always easy to sell to your old customers and you need to start building your list. This customer list could become if harvested properly, with the guidance of experts. Build a list of people you or your company have interacted with in the past. They know you better than someone who has never heard of you. Another thing which helps in list building is industry focused research. This research can be a key to successful email marketing. Get some research done about your target audience.

2. Cost effective: Compared with the very HIGH cost of other marketing channels, email marketing can save you a lot of money and effort, besides bringing you traffic and conversions. Before purchasing databases or lists of prospects, start collecting leads from your website in the form of email addresses. Lure visitors for free information or eNewsletters. Nothing spreads faster than word of mouth, make every customer or visitor to your website feel like a king, and if they feel well treated, they'll pay you back in the form of referrals.
   

3. Immediate Results: The results of email marketing are often immediate. As soon as the email is sent, you can start collecting the data for open rate and click throughs. Moreover, you start getting visits on your website or blog. To maximize results, your website needs to show some sticky and related content which can hold the visitors and convert them into goals.
   

4. Measurable: In our view, an email campaign is a failure if it cannot be measured. Measuring a campaign is the most important aspect of any marketing effort. The good news is, email campaigns can be integrated with web analytics and data can be captured along with your regular web analytics reports. E.g. the integration of Google Analytics with Vertical response allows us to find vertical response / email as a traffic source report within Google Analytics. These types of integrations will help you identify various valuable statistics such as Website visitors who have visited the site via Vertical Response, how many pages they visited, how much time they spent on the site, etc.
   

5. ROI: It's very difficult to improve if you can't measure ROI. As discussed above, email marketing is measurable and the ROI gives you direction about which area needs more focus and efforts. Conversion is the critical aspect of ROI. Content helps in the first step towards conversion i.e. creating interest. However, specific drivers push them towards conversion. The process of conversion has been mastered by AfterTheNet and our fine-tuned approach is being used to help clients across the globe. The above discussed 'Integration of Google Analytics with Vertical Response' can help you calculate the actual value/ROI from your Vertical Response email campaigns.
   

Just like a building needs a strong foundation, so does your email marketing effort. It will work, but only if done correctly supported by industry experts.