Email Marketing
Email Marketing is a great way to connect with clearly defined target markets at a very low price. Email marketing is measurable allowing marketers to tell what works for their products and services and what doesn’t. Email marketing is one of the effective advertising tools.
But before you use this technique you should be aware of advantages and disadvantages of Email marketing, Several Factors can hinder your email marketing efforts and it may work against your business.
Appearance
You may have worked to create your email marketing to look exactly the way you want. Unfortunately, due to the varying servers and computer settings, your design may not come through the way you hoped, which can diminish the impact of your message. Text may be moved from one line to the next on a person’s screen. The email setting on another person’s computer may only allow text, blocking images from coming through. If the main focus of your marketing was a logo, it could be lost.
If you want to avoid a misconstrued or possibly messy appearance, you’ll need to make sure the code used translates to the most basic processing systems. This may entail consulting with a technical specialist or marketing firm.
Engagement
Email marketing requires constant tweaking to keep your subscribers engaged. A person will often sign up to receive email solely as part of a promotion.
For example: – If a user provides his email address, he may receive a discount on a product. A user might also by mistake sign up, such as if subscribing was the default choice on a web page. In such cases, your email marketing may be perceived as a nuisance.
Even in the case that someone deliberately signed up to receive your marketing emails, like an industry newsletter, you still must work to maintain a level of engagement to keep your reader from unsubscribing.
Costs
Sending a quick email to someone may not cost you much more than Internet access, but the costs of launching an email marketing campaign add up. Hiring a company to design templates and manage an email marketing campaign and consultations can cost you a lot depending on the agency you approach.
Build Opt-In Lists
Compiling an email list of people who have opted in to receive information about products and services is a no-cost, high-performance means of connecting with target prospects through email. Giving consumers the opportunity to opt in keeps email marketers in compliance with the FTC’s CAN-SPAM regulations, guidelines that say what email marketers can and cannot do. Failure to comply may result in fines as high as $16,000 — per email — according to the FTC ( Federal Trade Commission ) Main requirements include not using false or misleading header information or deceptive subject lines, clearly identifying messages as advertising and including contact information and business location. In addition, the sender needs to include information about how recipients can opt out of receiving future Emails.
Compelling Headlines
The most important element of effective email marketing is the subject line, which can be thought of as the headline. “The headline should provide a short, immediate and specific benefit to the audience; it must also avoid words likely to get caught up in spam filters because they sound like “advertising talk” — for instance word like “free,” can put you in Spam.
Easy Ordering
Online marketers must make it as easy as possible for consumers to act when they have made a decision to purchase or request more information. Requiring them to jump through too much navigation can cause them to abandon the process.
Online marketers must regularly check their “sales funnel” data to see where they might be losing online customers during the sales process
Spam
Spam is a common name used to term bulk distributed Emails. When people get flodded with many emails, to reduce unwanted Emails many servers have filters in place to lessen the number of Spam Emails a person receives. Even though People can further adjust their email filters to their own tastes your email marketing campaign could well land in a spam folder and never get viewed. In Many cases you could find yourself or your business in serious legal trouble.
The CAN-SPAM Act sets forth strict guidelines that companies must meet in order to use email marketing. Violations of the act can cost up to $16,000, and numerous people may be charged.
Even when you take pains to ensure your email marketing conforms to the rules, you may still be accused and have to prove your campaigns are legitimate.
For more information on Can Spam Act visit
http://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business