Like search engine optimisation, email marketing forms part of a larger online marketing campaign. But considering the large volume of spam that makes its way into your inbox everyday, there is a justifiable reason why anyone would ignore or even shun email as a marketing medium. However, when performed correctly, email marketing can establish a strong foundation for your campaign, provide alternate exposure for your brand and build a long lasting relationship with your customer.

What is Email Marketing?
Any email sent to a potential customer can be termed as email marketing but there are three specific definitions that encompass all aspects of this term:

• Emails sent to promote customer loyalty and to further improve the relationship between existing customers and the merchandiser.


• Emails sent to target new customers or to persuade current customers to make an additional purchase.


• Advertisements and other marketing messages embedded in emails sent by merchandisers.

Email marketing is a direct marketing strategy that is especially successful since it remains cost effective, immediate and self evaluating. Not only does after sales service over the Internet require email correspondence, but the potential to exploit the customer - merchandiser relationship provides compelling reasons for using email marketing.

A multitude of advantages

• Email marketing provides businesses with a cheaper alternative to printed newsletters or direct mail, as well as the environmental benefit of the same. With a large database, email marketing is capable of distributing regular messages to potential customers at low costs.


• Databases also allow a business to categorise their customer base. Existing and potential customers as well as valued clients can be tracked and advertised to differently. This targeting of customers is another way of ensuring customers visit your site after they've made a purchase.


• E-mail marketing can be successfully measured by using click-through, read-receipts, un-subscribes, bounce messages, web bugs, and other metrics. These in turn, can help to assess negative and positive responses, open rates and to correlate sales with marketing.

The challenges of Email Marketing

• Spam: Unfortunately misuse of email marketing is rampant and the flipside to this success story. Do not be tempted to use the email database you've gathered for sending bulk junk emails.


• Privacy: The code here is simple - treat other people's email addresses as you'd wish your own. Respect individual's privacy and their request to unsubscribe from your newsletter.


• Attachments: Large attached files may cause a variety of problems for the recipient. In addition to the worry of viruses, there could be other issues related to opening the files. Avoid using attachments if possible.

Email marketing can be more than just another strategy - it can be THE strategy that drives your business. Nevertheless, care must be taken when constructing a campaign using emails since a nuanced approach is most recommended.