| Email advertising has become almost as common as | | | | involves a single click of a button. The user can sift |
| TV, postal or any other advertising. Each day, every | | | | through several emails without even opening them. |
| mailbox is filled with hoards of information about | | | | This is the reason email advertisers try to attract |
| product offers. Everything from credit cards to | | | | viewers with attractive subject lines. Most email |
| mortgage loans to personal enhancement offers is | | | | advertisements use special offers, attractive |
| publicized. Though no one is sure whether viewers | | | | discounts and other promotional gimmicks to attract |
| really acknowledge these offers or not, email | | | | viewers' attention. Some advertisements are also |
| advertising has become a very important part of the | | | | designed to attract certain target groups like older |
| marketing mix. | | | | people, women in a particular age group, or |
| There are many advantages to email advertising. It is | | | | teenagers. Companies obtain this information from |
| a very cost-effective and efficient way to keep in | | | | databases, which the viewer might have provided |
| touch with existing customers and provide them | | | | sometime in the past for any other reason. |
| information about products or services in which they | | | | Companies most commonly use opt-in email |
| may be interested. It helps to improve a company's | | | | advertisements. In such advertisements, the mails are |
| brand loyalty. It saves a lot of time as compared to | | | | sent only to those recipients who have given |
| traditional direct mail advertising. | | | | permission to receive such emails. Another kind of |
| The results are also measurable, as nearly 80% of | | | | email advertising is sending informative newsletters |
| the responses arrive within the first three days after | | | | that contain useful information about any topic that |
| sending the mail. It is also very easy to track, as | | | | the viewer might have expressed interest in. These |
| bounce-backs, click-through and other responses can | | | | newsletters contain advertisements of various |
| be tracked immediately. Email advertising is ideal for | | | | products, which the viewer can click and access if |
| certain products like downloadable software, online | | | | they are interesting enough. Other forms of email |
| conferences, up selling to higher-priced products, or | | | | advertising include online surveys and questionnaires, |
| cross-selling. | | | | free offers for a limited period, offers of "winning a |
| Email advertisements are generally treated as "spam". | | | | prize" and so on. |
| Spamming is the process of sending out advertising | | | | Email advertising messages have to be short and |
| messages to millions of mailboxes through email. | | | | crisp enough to attract the viewer's attention. The |
| These messages are unsolicited; the recipient does | | | | URL that links to the company or to the product has |
| not invite them. However, now spamming has been | | | | to be clear and visible to the reader, as most readers |
| outlawed as a criminal offense. Besides, each | | | | generally do not bother to read through the end of |
| advertising message should have an "opt-out" option, | | | | the message to find the URL. The language has to |
| which will allow the recipient to block any more | | | | be upbeat and interesting, to hold the reader's |
| messages in the future. The reason is that, spamming | | | | attention. Overly short messages are also not |
| causes servers to get clogged up, restricting | | | | effective, as they are not taken seriously. |
| important messages from passing through. Besides, | | | | There are email advertising software tools available |
| spamming is also causing companies to lose their | | | | that make email advertising much easier. These are |
| image. Hence, most companies are restraining | | | | many kinds, such as email address extraction, bulk |
| themselves from sending spam messages. There are | | | | mailer programs, newsgroup extractor, email verifier, |
| spam filters available that can effectively block emails | | | | list manager and others. Prices start at $30 and may |
| from a certain email account. | | | | go up to $80 or more depending on the options |
| Just like any other kind of advertising, email | | | | available. Free trial versions are also available. The |
| advertising also has to be attractive enough to grab | | | | Internet is a great source for these software tools |
| the viewers' attention. Ignoring an email | | | | and the companies that provide them. |
| advertisement is very easy for a user, as it just | | | | |