Saturday, August 30, 2008

Learn About Managing Your Own Business' Email Marketing

By Darrel Hawes


Email marketing has been a very profitable means of marketing products and services. It has continued to be used by small and large businesses, by non-profits, and every type of organization conceivable. It is used so frequently because it works.

Why does it work? Partly because of the following advantages: low cost, speed, viral (messages can easily be transferred to others, without your direct involvement), can direct traffic to an otherwise offline offer, and with certain applications, messages can be customized.

Amazon.com is a great example of customization. Amazon only sends recommendations related to what the customer has bought before. People are interested in some subjects but not other subjects, and the more closely communications are based upon the things that appeal to the individual, the larger the chance that the message will come across.

Email campaigns can easily direct traffic to an offline offer. One method is sending out coupons. This system is utilized by the bookstore Borders with great success, as they frequently send out coupons that can be used in their local store. "Good for one day only" coupons are also used by service businesses to fill empty slots.

Don't have the tools to manage an email marketing system yet? You have two major choices. Your first is whether to buy a program that installs on your own server, or whether to go with a hosted service and have your email database stored on a third-party's server.

Using your own program would give you more flexibility and opportunities for customization, but it's your choice. If you want to look into it, popular options are Auto Response and Mailloop.

A hosted service is generally going to require little or no upfront cost, but will require a monthly fee because you are paying for a separate service. Advantages of this type of system include: expert third-party help in the event of spam complaints, and no need to set up and maintain a program on your server. Commonly used services include Aweber, GetResponse, 1ShoppingCart, and EmailAces.

Email marketing can be an essential aspect of your marketing system, and has the capacity to expand your profits and increase your customers.

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