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Bulk Email marketing is increasingly recognised as an
effective Internet marketing tool. Our paper reviews the email
marketing literature which highlights the importance of
obtaining recipients' permission. Email marketing is compared
with other forms of direct and Internet marketing, identifying
its key advantages. We identify the factors that have been
found to increase response rate in direct marketing and direct
mail.
Following exploratory qualitative research among industry
experts we analysed 30 email marketing campaigns to identify
factors associated with higher response rates. We found the
following factors were associated with increased response
rate: subject line, email length, incentive, number of images.
For nine of these campaigns we were able to link demographic
and lifestyle data to response. Analysis of these campaigns
suggests that recipients who have previously bought on the
Internet have higher response rates to bulk email . These
finding are used to create an email marketing process model
based on the Vriens et al (1998) direct mail process
model.
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The advantages of email marketing have been recognised by a
number of authors. Jackson and DeCormier (1999) recognised
that email provided marketers with communication that
permitted relationship building and real-time interaction with
customers. Wreden (1999, p3) described email marketing as the
'Internet's killer application' because of the precision with
which email can be tailored, targeted and tracked. Low costs
and digital processing allows companies to send out huge
numbers of emails. The medium is push rather than pull, the
consumer does not have to instigate the interaction, and
currently response rates are high (Di Ianni 2000; Rosenspan
2000). Peppers and Rodgers (2000, p 4), claim that 'clear
benefits, including high response rates and low costs are
rapidly turning email marketing into an invaluable tool'.
Email marketing can be used for acquisition or retention; this
paper focuses on acquisition email marketing, marketing
designed to win rather than retain customers.
Table 1 Comparison of Direct and Internet
Marketing Techniques
Table 1 compares email to other forms of
direct and Internet marketing. The basic characteristics of
email marketing are low costs, shorter turnaround (in the time
involved to prepare, send the messages and receive the
responses), high response rates and customisable campaigns.
The advent of HTML, audio and video email improves the scope
for creativity in email marketing. Ultimately it is
conversion, rather than response rate, that will determine the
cost efficiency of acquisition email marketing; this will
depend on the targeting, the message, and the receptivity of
the recipient. Briggs and Stipp (2000) have argued that the
'lean-forward' nature of the Internet increases involvement in
streamed Internet advertising, this could equally apply to
email marketing.
Email is a relatively new medium, in the future, consumer
response is likely to be adversely affected by increasing
traffic volume (Rosenspan 2000; Di Ianni 2000). Mehta and
Sividas (1995) suggest that spam messages are unwanted,
untargeted and therefore negatively perceived. Turban et al,
(2000, p360) define spam 'as the practice of indiscriminate
distribution of messages without permission of the receiver
and without consideration for the messages' appropriateness.'
Jupiter Communications (2000) estimate that the average US
surfer will receive up to 1,600 unsolicited emails every year
by 2005. Windham (2000) believes that unsolicited email is
considered an invasion of privacy, and has already become a
serious problem for some customers; spam taints the reputation
of email marketing. To avoid being perceived as spam, several
authors recommend that companies should restrict the messages
they send (Wreden 1999; Wright and Bolfing 2001); in addition,
marketers should obtain recipients' permission.
Permission Marketing
Godin, (1999, p 43) coined the term 'permission marketing'
which is based on consumers giving their consent to receive
marketing information. Permission marketing 'offers the
consumer an opportunity to volunteer to be marketed to' and it
is therefore 'anticipated, personal, and relevant'. The idea
of consent is not new; customer permission had been introduced
in the context of privacy issues in direct marketing (Milne
and Gordon 1993). The key to permission marketing is knowing
customer interests and knowing their information needs (Sterne
and Priore 2000). It is particularly relevant to Internet
marketing because the low marginal cost of messages creates a
potential volume problem for both consumers and marketers.
Permission marketing improves the targeting and relevance of
promotional messages, thus improving response and conversion
rates. The interactivity of the Internet facilitates
communication of consumer permission and preferences.
A survey by IMT Strategies (1999) found that permission
email has a higher response rate than non-permission email;
more than half of their respondents felt positive about
receiving permission email. Successful permission marketing is
about building long-term relationships with customers once the
initial permission has been granted. The consent, trust and
two-way exchange of information develop the relationship
between the consumer and the company.
Hagel and Singer, (1999) discuss the emergence of
'infomediaries' or information brokers who elicit the
permission of consumers and preserve their privacy. In effect,
these companies are 'permission' brokers; an example is
yesmail.com.
Krishnamurthy (2001) presents a model where consumer
interest in a permission-marketing program depends on five
factors: message relevance; monetary benefit; personal
information entry costs; message processing costs, and privacy
costs. He also introduces the concept of permission intensity,
which he defines as 'the degree to which a consumer empowers a
marketer in the context of a communicative relationship'. In
addition the permission may be more or less explicit. In-order
to obtain as many permission email addresses as possible
marketers sometimes provide options that are unclear with a
default 'opt-in'. A study by Cyber Dialogue found that 69% of
US Internet users did not know they had given their consent to
inclusion on email distribution lists (Bellman et al
2001).
The effectiveness of direct marketing depends on the
targeting, the nature of the offer, the creative, the timing
and the volume of communication (Fraser-Robinson 1989; Stone
1996; Roberts and Berger 1989). Vriens et al., (1998, page
325) develop a theoretical framework for the response process
in direct mail, see Figure 1, distinguishing between factors
that affect the three stages: opening the envelope, paying
attention to the contents and the response.
The Best Internet Advertising is Free Internet Advertising
Free internet advertising is one very important method for promoting your products and services to thousands of free classified ads.
Most of these free classified ads web sites give you the power to facilitate marketing with features such as classified ads submitter forms. Features like this give free Internet advertising an extremely fast way of getting your products or services on line. It is accessible 24/7 allowing you access anytime, it's very effective and efficient and most of it comes free. No downloads. No sign-up fees. No hidden charges. No annual or monthly fees. No sales fees. It is absolutely free.
Best Internet Marketing Solutions Without Overspending
The Internet has made this world an open enterprise. It has become important for companies to further expand their market and their consumer targets. Engaging to Internet Marketing maybe a risk for people who wish to be involved with this type of business.
Ensure that most of your target consumers will surely acquire your product. Consider the best products which will definitely capture their interests and needs. This means that you need to identify specifically who these people are, their location and financial level in the society. Have a marketing knowledge and skill to achieve your goal in the field of Internet marketing.
At the present, you can use varied Internet Marketing Solutions that is being offered by companies which can be your tool for support to your consumers. This solution maybe email marketing, search engine optimization or creating web pages or sites. Since you need to maximize your return profit, you need to choose Internet Marketing Solutions that will help you achieve this. These marketing techniques will not cost much since they are very self-explanatory, thus, learned easily.
Are You Already Marketing On The Internet?
Take a moment to think about how you would really answer this question. If given enough thought just about any business owner who utilizes the Internet for any purpose will likely find that whether or not they intentionally organized an Internet marketing campaign, they may already be marketing their products and services on the Internet. This article will examine some subtle ways business owners may already be marketing their business on the Internet.
Do you have a website for your business? Business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their products or services online just by virtue of the fact that they have a website online. Having a live website means there is the potential for curious Internet users to access your website. You may not be actively promoting your website but you may still find that your website generates interest in your products despite the lack of promotional endeavors; this is a form of passive marketing.
Do you participate in message boards and include a link to your website in your signature? Again business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their website online. Savvy business owners realize the importance of participation in industry related message boards to create an interest in their products and services, establish themselves as knowledgeable about the industry and offer a link to their own website even if it is in the signature line of their posts. However, even business owners who do not realize this may already be inadvertently enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing which result from message board participation just by doing something they enjoy and may be doing as a form of leisure activity.
Advertise, Do not Spam
There is a fine line between advertising and spam and unfortunately many business owners do not understand the difference between the two. This is important because while a cleaver, well planted Internet marketing campaign can help to attract new customers and keep existing customers loyal, spam is likely to alienate both new customers and existing customers. This can be extremely damaging to profit margins for the business owners. This article will take a look at a few basic Internet marketing strategies such as banner ads, email campaign and message board posts and describe how each can quickly cross the line from cleaver advertising to spam.
Banner ads are one of the most popular strategies which accompany an Internet marketing plan. These ads are usually ads which appear at the top of websites and span the width of the website. It is from this appearance that they earned the name banner ads but actually banner ads can refer to ads of a variety of different sizes and shapes which appear in an array of different locations on a website. In many cases the business owner purchases advertising space on these websites but the banner ad may also be placed as part of an exchange or an affiliate marketing campaign. Banner ad exchanges are situations in which one business owner posts a banner ad on his website in exchange for another business owner posting his banner ad on the other website. These agreements may be made individually between business owners with complementary businesses or as part of exchanges facilitated by a third party. In the case of affiliate marketing, an affiliate posts and advertisement for your business in exchange for compensation when the banner ad produces a desired effect such as generating website traffic or generating a sale. The terms of these agreements are determined beforehand and are generally based on a scale of pay per impression, pay per click or pay per sale or lead.
Now that you understand what banner ads are, it is also important to understand how they can be overused and appear to be spam. Judiciously placing your banner ad on a few websites which are likely to attract an audience similar to your target audience is smart marketing, placing your banner ad on any website which will display the ad regardless of the target audience can be construed as spam. Internet users who feel as though your banner ads are everywhere they turn will not likely take your business seriously and are not likely to purchase products or services from you as a result of your banner ads.
7 Ways To Make Money Using Nothing More Than Your List
An opt-in list can be quite crucial to any site or internet based company. Even for a small venture such as a niche profit site an opt-in list can make a world of difference and also add some extra income for your pocket. Rarely would you see an e-commerce site, big or small, that is without an opt-in list.
An opt-in list allows for a company to market their wares and site via an e-mail. With an opt-in list, a site and a subscriber consents to sending and receiving a newsletter from your company. Through this, you can keep your subscribers abreast of what is currently available in your site as well as whatever is coming out.
And because there is mutual consent between the two parties, any mail sent to the list is not considered as spam mail. There is a great number of successfully read promotional materials such as catalogs, newsletters and such that are sent because the subscribers themselves have signed up for them, meaning, they do want to be sent those items.
5 Things To Consider When Publishing A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter for your opt-in list subscribers provides many benefits in terms of driving traffic into your site as well as boosting the sales and profits of your site and company. This is a marketing ploy that will not hugely dent your marketing budget and will not also require many man-hours in developing this project.
With a newsletter, you can inform the public about your company and products as well as services. You can keep them posted and updated about what’s going-on with your company as well as many of your promotions and offerings. With these, you keep on reminding your subscribers that you are still here and is willing to offer them good deals and services.
4 Ways To Get Your Opt In Subscribers To Trust You Quickly
While the rest of the world have developed many barriers and protections to keep their e-mail accounts spam-free, there are also those that subscribe to mails that promotes their products, services and their site. This is mainly because these subscribes wants to know more about what these sites are offering and can be beneficial for them. They expect to get be kept posted on what they are interested in and what are new in the market or field they have chosen.
Businesses would be so lucky to have these kinds of customers; the basic element needed to get these types of people is trust. When your customers trust you they will reward you with their loyalty. Many internet users have gone to great lengths in protecting their email accounts from spam mail. Some free-mail internet providers and internet service providers offer spam protection while there are also some internet based companies that screen your mails for you.
4 Crucial Things You Need To Do To Build your List
Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past few years, but many in the know how have felt its rise even from way then. As more internet based businesses are put up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with the changing face of business the business world.
The demand for online marketing tips and strategies have drastically grown and a new form of business has been born, internet marketing strategies. While there are companies that are all too eager to help your site and business build a clientele for a fee, there also many ways that can spread the word about your sites subsistence in a more cost free way. One of this is Opt-in email marketing, also known as permission marketing.
The 3 Things To Avoid When Emailing Your List
When you decide to have an opt-in list, it is not just a matter of sending your subscribers your promotional newsletters or catalogs. There are many things to consider in avoiding many complications. While there are so many ways you can make people subscribe to your list, there are also some things you must do to avoid subscribers from wanting to get off from your list.
Aside from that, you also want to avoid any problems with the law and your internet service provider or ISP. There are now many laws and rules that are applied to help protect the privacy of the internet users from spamming and unwanted mails. With the popularity of the electronic mail as a medium for marketing because of the low cost, many company’s have seized the opportunity and have flooded many people’s e-mail accounts with promotional mail.
3 Quick And Easy Ways To Build A Profitable Opt In List
You finally realize that you need a good opt-in list. After reading countless articles and sought expert advices and have read many success stories of people creating a small fortune with opt-in lists you finally decide to have one of your own. Then it happens, you think you have known everything there is to know about opt-in lists and have followed their advices to the T and you still weren’t able to make a profit.
In fact, you may be losing money. You maybe hiring writers to help you out, or there are some expenses incurred, even if you have a big list, but only a very small percentage actually buys from you, your still losing profit. You’ll realize that after a few months when you see your statistics and sales figures.
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