When it comes to marketing and promoting your company, finding a channel which will not stretch your budget can be difficult. You may think that email is still associated with \’spam\’ however it is still a proven and highly effective method of advertising and ultimately, increasing revenue.

For the uninitiated, email marketing is an electronic form of direct mail. There can be many comparisons drawn between the two in that both make use of a concise, well designed promotion which is delivered to a targeted audience. The obvious drawback of the printed form of direct marketing is the cost involved. The other major disadvantage is that any means by which the recipient can go on to \’interact\’ with your company as a result of this mail requires effort on their part. If you decide to implement an email campaign, do not fall into the trap of thinking that all you need to do is write a quick email as there are a number of issues you will have to address if you are to ensure the success of your mail out.

The backbone of any email marketing campaign is of course the mailing list. This should consist of email contacts of people who will be interested in your products. These could be from existing customers who have agreed to supply you with their details, or they could also be from speculative prospectors who have simply entered their address into a form on your website with the hope of being kept up to date with the latest offers and promotions. Alternatively, you could approach a mailing list broker who will be able to supply you with a list of email addresses from people of a certain demographic. The downside of this method is that this list will likely contain contacts of people who will not have heard of you before and just disregard your emails. Once you have a mailing list, ensure that it is constantly being updated and maintained.

The first thing your recipients will see is the subject line of your email. Ensure that this is written in such a way to grab their attention and give them a reason to actually open the email. Once they have opened the email they should be presented with a document which has been well designed and written. Everything should be clearly laid out and ensure that it isn\’t too text heavy as internet users are notoriously lazy.

The beauty of email marketing is that you can track the success (or otherwise of the campaign). By monitoring how many people are opening and interacting with your emails you will be able to tailor future campaigns in order to generate a better return. If you find the prospect of managing a campaign rather daunting then there are a number of specialist email marketing companies who will be able to take on all the work so that you don\’t have to. Their track record will ensure that you have the best possible chance of generating a return on your marketing budget.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s top email marketing companies.

Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (http://www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s top email marketing companies.

Author Bio: Trevor Richards writes for Extravision (www.extravision.com), one of the UK\’s top email marketing companies.

Category: Advice
Keywords: email, internet, marketing, advertising, emarketing, brand, copywriting, ecommerce