eLink Media & The Value of eMail Marketing...

The following reinforcement of eMail Marketing comes directly from the Direct Marketing Association:

eMail Marketing is estimated to be worth around billions annually, but also demonstrated equally how important it is for companies to ensure they are using the right channels to promote their products or services.

Email marketing has particularly emerged in recent times as a major force in the sector, with experts often writing on blogs across the web about how cost-effective and useful the format can be.

A study by AOL recently also highlighted the potential market open to those who use the channel, with the online company's Email Addiction Survey revealing that around one in five people check their inboxes over ten times a day, with half of respondents also checking their messages at least four times in the same period.

However, it has also been claimed by some that email can be more successful for businesses that choose to use it in conjunction with other, non-digital formats, such as direct mail or tele-sales.

According to Paul Cross, Product and Marketing Manager for Thomson Local, integrating marketing channels such as email and direct mail can give companies "a much better chance of turning a lead into a sale".

He said that while email has overtaken direct mail in terms of the volume of promotions sent out, postal messages still have "a place in direct marketing activity".

"The most successful campaigns are those that use the full range of channels available to marketers. Often marketers will launch an email campaign and follow that up with a telemarketing or postal campaign," he explained.

Mr. Cross added that the use of email marketing can particularly provide consumers with the opportunity to interact immediately with communications, "whether that be with a call to action or viewing media rich content".

However, he also warned that businesses should view email campaigns as a "sustained dialogue" with consumers and not as one-off promotions.

"An email marketing campaign followed up by with a telemarketing campaign or direct mail campaign gives a much better chance of making a sale than using just an email marketing campaign on its own" he outlined.