Should you use email marketing?

There are many different marketing methods that you can use in your overall marketing plan. Sometimes the difficulty can be narrowing down which methods will work best to communicate your marketing message. Marketing experts recommend that all business owners look into the viability of using email marketing. Surprisingly, despite the fact that email marketing has been around for a long time, many businesses are overlooking this tool, for marketing. However, email marketing is one of the best ways to send out marketing on a timely basis, and stay in touch with your clients.

Using email for your marketing will cost you almost nothing, compared to other marketing methods such as: direct mail, or print media. With these methods you will have to pay for printing and mailing, but when using email marketing, you only will deal with a newsletter service or email hosting service. However, before you determine if you should use email marketing, you should ask yourself the following questions-

• Is email the most effective way to reach your target customers?Despite the fact that email can be the most cost effective and easy to use, it might not be the right method to use when trying to reach your customers. Keep in mind that email can be unpredictable when it comes to delivery. This leaves you with the possibility that your target customers are not getting your marketing message.


• Do you have access to email list for your existing and potential customers? If you don't have access to emails of your customers, you will need to put a process in place to capture them. You can do this simply by putting a sign up sheet in your store, or you can post one on your website. You can also install an automated email service that goes out and gets emails, when customers sign up for an e-newsletter. Keep in mind that you can set up automated email newsletters, but you want to have a human being designing the emails. This way you can make sure that the emails are communicating the marketing message that you want them to.


• Does your target market readily access email? Some demographic groups access email on a regular basis while others are only periodic users. If you are going to use email marketing as a major tool, to communicate your marketing, you want to make sure that your target market, will be readily accessing their email. Otherwise you may find that your marketing message, sits unnoticed on to many people's email, waiting to be read. You should also consider if you can adequately use email to get all of the needed information to your customers. Even email has its limitations in the amount of information, type of text and graphics that can be used. If you need features that are outside of a standard email, in order to communicate your marketing message, you may want to consider using something else to do so. The key here is to make sure that you understand the habits of your niche market and then determine the best way to stay in touch with them.


• Do you have regular access to the internet?It is also important that you consider the needs of your business, before beginning an email marketing campaign. Do you have enough computer support, on a regular basis, to support an email marketing campaign?Is your staff trained and computer literate?Can they respond to questions, problems and concerns that may arise, from a major email marketing push?If you see a lack on your side of the business, it might be prudent to put some training and computer support in place, before using email marketing.