E-mail is almost as mainstream a form of communication as the telephone and the fax machine these days.  In fact, one statistic says that 75% of the people who are getting online are using the Internet to check their e-mail.  It is hands-down the most popular online activity of Internet users at both home and work.  Of course, the moment that this number began to climb, the marketer's mind began to wander.  Another channel of communication to the marketing group means what?  Another place to market their products, of course!

The growth of e-mail marketing has been explosive.  Jupiter Research projects that companies will send 268 billion e-mail messages in 2005, 22 times more than what was sent in 2000.  Expenditures on e-mail marketing are expected to be approximately $4.6 billion in 2003, a 360% increase over 2000.

The average number of permission-based e-mails received per week by American consumers is estimated to rise from 12.8 in 2001 to 31 in 2003. 
As these numbers continue to increase so dramatically, it becomes far more important for those of us who are using e-mail to market our product or service to do it effectively and those of us who are not yet using e-mail as a marketing channel to seriously consider it in order to stay competitive.

Why all the hype?

E-mail marketing has many great advantages.  It can be cheaper than printing collateral pieces and also can reduce the high postage costs that go along with direct mail campaigns.  And, it is delivered directly to the targeted consumer.

Many companies are looking for ways to become paperless via the Internet.  Delta Airlines offers bonus miles to Frequent Fliers for signing up for account statements that will be received online.  Financial institutions like Bank of America and American Express have new statement envelopes printed with messages alerting customers that all of this "annoying paper" can be sent to you via e-mail.

Many other companies are looking for ways to replace existing direct mail campaigns with the e-mailed counterpart.  They're sending electronic newsletters, e-mails with links to a website in place of the catalog, and information about upcoming sales - all to customer@somewhere.com.

Who ever thought we could get more targeted than direct mail?  Well, with e-mail marketing, we just may be.  The e-mail message is sent to one individual and almost guaranteed to land on the computer screen of the person who signed up to receive it.  (For example, a post card can be thrown away by the husband of the women we were targeting before she ever sees it.)  In addition, the e-mail box is personal, confidential and password-protected giving it a much more intimate feels.

What is Spam?

No conversation about e-mail marketing can begin without first discussing spam.  If you have an e-mail box of your own, chances are you are receiving spam.  The term spam refers to unsolicited e-mails usually sent in bulk.  I, for example, receive approximately 100 unsolicited spam messages per day, trying to sell me everything from houses to software to coffee.

Spam is unsolicited e-mail messages, the online equivalent to junk mail.  This form of junk mail, however, is frowned upon more much more ardently than its snail mail counterpart.  There has even been legislation put in place to make it an illegal activity in certain U.S. states.

The unsolicited spam e-mails are at an all-time high, according to firms that track it.  Anti-spam service provider, Brightmail, reports that spam now accounts for 40% of all e-mail, up from 10% in early 2001.  As you can imagine, e-mail users are becoming more and more upset about the quantity of spam and more and more leery to release their e-mail addresses to anyone.

When developing your e-mail campaign, it is very important to only mail to those who have requested your e-mail.  There are many ways to capture and cultivate a list of permission-based e-mail addresses. 

n     Post a place on your website where customers can sign up for an online newsletter.

n     Put a place on order forms, applications, and mailing list sign-ups for the e-mail address.

n     Have customer service representatives ask for e-mail addresses each time they interact with customers.

List brokers are selling opt-in lists of targeted consumer groups, but be very careful.  The broker that you use should be very well established, and make sure that they list is opt-in only.  This means that the consumers have agreed to have their addresses released to other relevant sources.  Also, you should always include an opt-out option in the e-mails that you send to your customers.  Remember, the goal is to leave a positive impression on your potential customers!

Be careful not to use copy that resembles that of spam, especially in the subject line - no screaming headlines, messages in all caps, or multiple exclamation points.  Never try to conceal the identity of the sender and always provide full contact information.

When requesting e-mail addresses from your clients and potential clients, it is also very important to develop a policy on privacy.  This policy should assure customers that you handle all personal information in the utmost of confidences and will never share it with anyone.  This should be posted on your website, attached to emails, distributed to employees, and any other relevant locations.  Consumers are becoming savvier and are looking for these reassurances before they will release their e-mail addresses.

What about the plan?

Okay, we understand why we should use e-mail as a marketing medium and we certainly know why not to spam.  Now, all we need to do is develop and execute our e-mail marketing plan. 

The first step to developing your plan is to determine your goals. Are you trying to reinforce the relationship with existing customers by creating exit barriers?  Are you trying to obtain new customers that may have been unreachable before?  Are you trying to cut costs by communicating in a paperless way with your existing customer base?  These goals will set the tone and expectation for your plan that follows.

Other possible goals for your e-mail campaign:

n     Promote your brand

n     Move excess inventory

n     Reward loyal customers

n     Educate and inform customers

You must also decide what format your e-mail campaign will take - advertisement, newsletter, special offer, corporate announcement, etc.  Will this message be simple text or will it contain graphic images?

As a rule, the message itself should be relatively brief.  Encourage the recipient to request more information with a return e-mail or by logging onto your website.  Make the overall message brief and straightforward, no hard selling.  Also, the e-mail should contain some kind of call to action.

In-house vs. Outsourced - Once you're message is developed, you have to decide whether you would be best served to send it out from your office or outsource.  There are several software applications available to help you execute the mailing in-house and several reputable companies out there to do the job for you.  These determinations can only be made on a case-by-case basis, but some issues to consider are:

n     Do you have the staff and infrastructure in place to execute the campaign?

n     How will the in-house/outsourced system interact with your current systems, CRM, billing, tracking etc?

n     Will you have the ability to segment your e-mail list to accurately target your e-mail message?

n     What is the emergency back-up plan?

n     How are "bounces" handled?  (Meaning - what happens to returned mail.)

n     How are replies and opt-outs handled?

n     Kinds of reports to expect - Delivery statistics, Response Analysis and Subscriber Reports.

Accuracy - How many e-mail messages have you received that were supposed to have your name at the top, but instead it read: "Dear    ,"?  Or, even worse, you are interested in logging on to the company's website to get more information, but the link doesn't work!  It is imperative that you, not only, test your e-mail campaigns but also monitor them for functionality.

Effectiveness - By sending altered messages to different groups, you can get a feel for what works best.  Some marketers alter the message and analyze which one gets the best response.  For example, 5,000 customers are mailed an offer to receive an online newsletter, while the other 5,000 receive an invitation to log on to the website for a special offer.  The results can be compared to see which type of offer generates the highest response rates. This type of comparison can also be done with days of the week and times of day.

What does the future hold?

New Customer Experiences - E-mail marketing will become more and more integrated into the overall marketing campaign.  For example, some financial institutions are developing messenger programs that will alert customers when the balance falls below a certain amount, when a check has cleared, etc.  Retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue will start to do billing online and customize the offer attached to the bill based on past customer account relationships. 

Going Mobil - Look to mobile devices for the future.  Devices like cell phones and PDA's will be a new marketing medium of the future.  Text messaging is becoming more and more prevalent especially in markets outside the United States.  In China, text messaging increased from 19 billion messages in 2001 to 60 billion in 2002 and is expected to grow to 500 billion in 2007.  The strength of a user's relationship with their mobile phone is unique and perhaps even more personal than the one with e-mail.

Spam prevention - Look for more and more backlash against spam.  Legitimate e-mail marketers may have to pay a cost to send to certain e-mail providers who are trying to protect their subscribers from unsolicited e-mails.

Because of historical and anticipated growth of e-mail marketing, it is more important than ever to have an effective plan in place and a clear, concise message to send.  The e-mail user is receiving so many e-mails per day, it is now, and will become even more so, imperative that your message stand out from the crowd.

Think of e-mail marketing as an addition to your overall marketing plan.  In some cases, it will replace or even improve upon other more traditional methods.  There is no better, faster way to communicate than with permission-based e-mail marketing.  It is cost-effective and, if mailed to the right list, it can be highly effective.  Whether you are hoping to sell product, build relationships, save money, or create awareness - e-mail just may be a marketer's best friend. 

Jennifer Seitz, MBA, founder and President of Marketing InSeitz, has worked in the field of Marketing for over 10 years. She has experience creating successful strategies, brand identities, and creative content for large and small corporations in a wide array of industries.  You can learn more about her services and contact her at marketinginseitz.com.