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Email marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular forms
of Internet advertising.
This is because there are many distinct advantages to the concept of email
marketing. However, email marketing does have some disadvantages as
well. In this article we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of
email marketing and will also provide some insight into how to plan and
execute an effective email marketing campaign.
Email marketing certainly has a set of unique advantages over other types of
marketing both online and offline. Perhaps one of the most significant
advantages to email marketing is the ability to reach a worldwide audience
with minimal effort.
It is certainly possible to reach a worldwide audience with other types of
advertising but traditional types of advertising such as television, radio and
the print media are not nearly as effective for reaching potential customers
around the world all at once.
Another major advantage to email marketing is it is extremely affordable.
This is significant because there are many other types of marketing,
including Internet marketing, which are significantly more expensive than
email marketing.
The costs associated with email marketing are minimal. Ideally you will
already have a list of email recipients who are interested in your products
and services so there is no cost associated with obtaining a list of email
addresses. Additionally, the cost to send out emails is minimal and can be
considered part of your regular operating costs. All of these factors already
make email marketing extremely cost effective.
However, there is some cost involved in email marketing. Primarily this is
the costs associated with writing the advertisements and creating any
graphics which will accompany the email advertisements. This will require
hiring a writer to write the copy for the advertisement and a designer to
create and implements the graphics. The cost of these services will vary
pretty widely but in general you will pay more for writers and designers with
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more experience. This is because these writers and designers are expected
to be able to produce a higher quality of work than those with less
experience could produce.
The most obvious disadvantage to email marketing is the possibility of
having your email marketing viewed as spam. This is a very important
problem because it could prove to be quite costly in terms of the profit
margin for your business. Each day Internet users are bombarded with
unsolicited emails serving as advertisements.
This problem has reached epic proportions and the abundance of spam
infiltrating the email boxes of innocent Internet users has to be cautious and
suspicious about any email they receive which is unsolicited and appears to
be promoting a particular product or service.
Emails which contain subject lines or content which appear to be similar to
spam may be automatically transferred to a spam email folder by the email
system. Emails which are not automatically deleted may be deleted without
being opened simply because the recipient does not recognize the sender of
the email.
Both of these problems can result in essentially wasted time for the business
owner because the recipients are not even viewing the emails advertising
the products and services offered by the business. Additionally, they may
result in complaints being lodged against the company for being a purveyor
of spam.
Now that you understand the advantages and disadvantages of email
marketing, you might wonder how you can maximize the advantages to use
email marketing to your advantage. The most important factor to consider is
your email distribution list. This should consist of former customers who
have expressed a desire to receive emails with information and
advertisements as well as potential customers who have also expressed
interest in more information.
The content of the emails should also be carefully considered. They should
certainly highlight the products and services you offer but should do so
without appearing to be a hard sales pitch.
A writer with experience in writing this type of copy should be able to assist
you in providing insightful and accurate copy which also entices the reader
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to find out more about your products and services. Finally, your emails
should provide the readers with a call to action. This should be a statement
urging the reader to take a specific action such as making a purchase or
researching a product.
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