There are those who believe that the success of email marketing has been greatly reduced since new laws have passed enforcing stricter regulations on the quality of campaigns and their distribution. On the contrary, the new laws have revitalized email marketing in such a way that it has become more effective than ever. With the more stringent laws, publishers are obligated to come up with quality email newsletters and distribute their campaigns in such a way that privacy of their subscribers is treated with respect. When email newsletters first become popular, a lot of publishers abused it, providing irrelevant email messages and being very intrusive of Internet users. Those days are gone now.
These days, businesses are more careful when dealing with their subscribers. Each one is a VIP. As a result, an email marketing campaign is not just the mere act of sending scheduled newsletters, but meticulously conceptualized and relevant messages that give value to their subscribers. With the new laws, a visitor can subscribe to newsletters without any trepidation that they will be bombarded with offers that are not related to what they will be signing up for. What matters is what the subscriber is interested in. It is forbidden to send messages unrelated to the topic the subscriber signed up for.
In spite of the success of email marketing, publishers are not without problems. They may send very informative and inviting emails, but a percentage of their subscribers may not even get to read them. This is because email filters are getting stronger and most email campaigns get sorted into spam boxes or, even worse, get permanently deleted. There is a way to solve this problem. These days, every email account has a so-called “white list”. All the email addressed on such a list will never be filtered out. Publishers would be well advised to invite their subscribers to include their email addresses in the white list. Adding a step-by-step instruction on how to “whitelist” an email is also very helpful.
Another factor in the success of an email marketing campaign is list building. The more targeted the list is, the more positive the turnout will be. It is not just the number of subscribers that matters. It is also the willingness of the subscriber to receive the subject matter of the campaign. Even is one list is composed of 5,000 members, but not even one percent is actually interested in the campaign, then it is already a failed campaign. Publishers must aim for a high volume of highly targeted list members.
Below are three, tried and tested methods of email marketing.
Newsletters
Offering a free newsletter is the most powerful method of email marketing. First and foremost, such a campaign is widely known to build a large and responsive list. Second, sending out regular, on-topic newsletters enable publishers to build a relationship with their subscribers.
Mailers
A mailer differs from newsletters in such a way that it is a series of scheduled, yet related, email messages. For example: a three-part report or a seven-day, online course. This method requires the use of an auto-responder.
Announcement Lists
This list is specifically programmed to send out messages that will alert the subscribers of a new website update, a new product, or any new development on the campaign’s topic.
Email marketing is still an effective way to market a product or a service. However, publishers are encouraged to stay on their toes in order to work around every update on spam filters, in order to circumvent the spam folder and effectively reach their audience. Sending out low quality messages without any relevant value to subscribers is the surest way to turn off subscribers. The surest way to succeed in email marketing is to always publish quality newsletters. A good newsletter is already considered email cash.
