Because it is easier to track the return of email marketing over the return of direct mailings, companies use email to promote and sell goods and services, lead consumers to their websites, increase their revenue through advertisement sales and gather a group of consumers interested in the subject at hand. To be successful, a company must find a way to get consumers to receive an email, open and read it, then click on links within the email.
Success Rates
Though numerous new methods of marketing are now available on the Internet, many marketing companies still successfully use email marketing as their main or only source of marketing. In 2008, InternetRetailer.com noted that email marketing generated an estimated return of $48.29 for every dollar spent. AKAMarketing.com reports that some companies still reach an annual turnover rate of $100 million just through promotional emails, and that email marketing is very much alive and thriving. The key to success is to make sure consumers are receiving the emails and then to know how to make sure that consumers read them.
Inefficiency
Many factors contribute to the effectiveness of email marketing. Today, because spam blocking techniques have become so popular with email providers and users, marketing emails sent to a large number of consumers never reach their destination. Instead, they are sent directly to the spam filter or are corrupted because of certain aspects of the email being blocked. For instance, InternetRetailer.com reports that emails from 23 percent of retailers were considered unintelligible by their consumers because of images and text being suppressed by the spam and virus protection. Extra precautions need to be used to make sure that email marketing information is being sent in a way that consumers can read and understand.
Visual Techniques
Email marketers must design emails with user-friendly material that will ultimately appeal to the consumer. Getting them to open the email and look at it is the second step. InternetRetailer.com suggests adding HTML text that allows the consumers to click a link to view the images and text online instead of in the email, or a link that allows the material to show up in the email if the consumer deems it safe. Or, a company can use fewer images and find new ways to send the message that will not end up in spam or virus checkers. Of those who made changes to their email designs, 47 percent reported at least a 10 percent improvement in return, according to InternetRetailer.com.
Strategic Techniques
Once the consumer opens the email and finds it to be intelligible, the next step is to keep the consumer reading. In order to make a return on email marketing, AKAMarketing.com recommends not trying to sell anything to the consumer in the email. The email should include a catchy title that will draw consumers to the content inside, then the content should entice the consumer to visit the company's website and blog. These destinations are where highly relevant ads should be placed around the text itself, and email newsletter subscriptions should be easily visible on the site. AKAMarketing advises that you should never send an email that just tries to sell the consumer something. Consumers don't like to be harassed by advertisements.
Combination Method
To gain the most return on email marketing, another method is to combine numerous marketing types. Blogs and RSS feeds are both popular methods, according to AKAMarketing.com. Blogs are subject-specific and draw interested consumers to the wealth of information available on them. RSS feeds allow consumers to pick and choose the information they want to receive. Both methods allow a company's marketing information to reach highly targeted consumers that have an interest in the subject at hand. By offering an email newsletter to these consumers, you know that your marketing information is reaching those interested in the subject, and your advertisers know that their ads are reaching interested consumers as well.