Choosing which marketing channel(s) to use in your campaign may seem like a daunting task because marketing professionals have several channels available to them such as direct mail, telemarketing, email, and SMS. However, once you choose which channel(s) to use, you must also make sure you are optimizing your opportunity with this choice. In this particular article, we will focus on email marketing channel.

According to the Royal Pingdom (royalpingdom site) in 2009, 90 trillion emails were sent and in 2010 the numbers grew to 107 trillion, with a growth rate of 18%. Because of the tremendous volume and rapid growth of email usage, marketers are increasingly turning to email to reach large groups of people quickly.

Before you begin an email marketing campaign, you will need to get access to emails. There are several ways you can get access to emails; for existing customers, you may already have their email address or have means of getting access to them. For new prospects, you may need to subscribe to a lead generation site that provides email addresses (along with additional information) of potential buyers of your product or service. Note that there are two ways in which you can get access to email address; email for purchase, which is more expensive initially but you have possession of the email, and email rental, which is cheaper but you do not gain possession. First you must decide which method would be most beneficial to your specific campaign. Will you need to send out multiple emails to the same person? Do you just want to make a presence? Questions like these can help you decide which email marketing path you take.

Next, we can examine the pros and cons of emails:
Pros of Using Email:

• A quick process; consumers will receive message quickly and you can get feedback fast as well


• Span; email can reach thousands of people at the click of a button
  
• Cheap; does not need a individual to reach each person such as telemarketing or a processing center such as postal mail
  
• Multi-faceted; aside from the actual email, within the email you can include websites, links to social media sites (i.e. Twitter), and tracking to see who clicks these inclusions
  
• Impression; when polled, results say that 58% of online consumers check email as their first online activity of the day- that means your message can be the first thing they see before their day begins
  

Cons of Using Email:

• Delete, spam, junk; emails are extremely easy to delete without a second thought, or they can be sent to spam or junk mail without a chance to reach consumers
  
• Decline; U.S. mail providers have seen a steady decline from over 140M viewers in December 2009 to under 130 M viewers in September 2010
  
• Access; some consumers may not have easy access to a computer to check mail, or they may not even have an email at which they can be reached
  

Now, with these facts in mind, there are simple ways to minimize the downside of using emails. First of all, make sure you keep the demographics of your consumer in mind. The demographics are important to indicate whether email is the best method. Also, demographics can help an email feel more personal and give consumers incentive to read. Remember, use good email marketing practices: 32% of respondents in a Merkle survey said they stopped doing business with a company as a result of poor email marketing practices. So, always keep the consumer in mind! Do not forget, now email is accessible through phones (16% of emails are read on phones), so make yours compatible. Also, track your ROI to improve email campaigns for the future. Using these tips, you can optimize your email marketing campaign.

Sources:
econsultancy
royalpingdom


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