sending e-mail
e-mail marketing is an important and growing online marketing tool. e-mail is a much used communication tool; by one estimate, there are more than 3 billion e-mail accounts accounts worldwide. Not surprisingly, then, a recent study by the DMA found that 78 percent of all direct marketing still brings campaigns employ e-mail. Despite all the e-mail clutter, e-mail marketing still brings one of the highest marketing returns on investment. According to the DMA, marketers get a return of $40 on every $1 they spend on e-mail. U.S. companies spent $1.15 billion on e-mail marketing last year, up from only $243 million 10 years earlier.
When used properly, e-mail can be the ultimate direct marketing medium. Most blue-chip marketers use it regularly and with great success. E-mail lest these marketers send highly targeted, tightly personalized, relationship-building messages. For example, the National Hockey League (NHL) sends hypertargeted e-newsletters to fans based on their team affiliations and locations. It sends 62 versions of the e-newsletter weekly-two for each of the 30 teams, tailored to fans in the United States and Canada, respectively,and two generic league e-newsletters for the two countries. Another NHL e-mail campaign promoting the start of single-game ticket sales had 930 versions.
But there's a dark side to the growing use of e-mail marketing. The explosion of spam unsolicited, unwanted commercial e-mail messages that clog up our e-mail boxes-has produced consumer irritation and frustration.
According to one research company, spam now accounts for 68 percent of all e-mail sent. E-mail marketers walk a fine line between adding value for consumers and bring intrusive.
To address these concerns, most legitimate marketers now practice permission-based e-mail marketing , sending e-mail pitches only to customers who ''opt in.'' many companies use configurable e-mail sytems that let customers choose what they want to get. Amazon.com targets opt-in customers with a limited number of helpful "we thought you'd like to know" messages based on their expressed preferences and previous purchases. Few customers object, and many actually welcome such promotional messages. amazon.com benefits through higher return rates and by avoiding alienating customers with e-mails they don't want.
Given its targeting effectiveness and low costs, e-mail can be an outstanding marketing investment. According to the DMA, e-mail marketing produces the greatest return on investment of all direct marketing media.