To just say "it works" is actually an understatement. Based on research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is predicted to return an amazing $48.29 for every dollar spent in 2007. To put this in perspective, that's more than double the average return for other forms of online marketing and more than 6 times the return from print catalogs.

Why email marketing works

It's cost effective - While the cost of actually designing your email creative can be comparable to direct mail, the big savings start when you consider there are no printing costs and you can get your message delivered for only four cents per recipient.
It's immediate - Email generates an immediate response, instead of waiting for a subscriber to visit your site you can get your message to them when it counts. The majority of your recipients will see your message in the first 24-48 hours.
It's relevant - Email makes it easy to segments your subscribers using a variety of criteria like demographics and past campaign behaviour (such as clicking a certain link). This way you can ensure your message goes to the individuals most likely to be interested in your offer.
It's completely measureable - More than any other form of marketing, email can provide actionable data on the results it generates. Keep track of who opened your email and when, what topics they were interested in, who forwarded it on to a friend, how many sales were generated and much more.

Spam and Acceptable Permission

Like most things, you'll only get true results from email marketing if you're prepared to put the effort in. It's incredibly important to get the foundation right. Make sure every one of your subscribers gave acceptable permission to hear from you. Ensure the newsletter or offer is relevant to them. Make sure you use a reputable service like Campaign Mark to ensure the message gets delivered.

If you fall short in any of these areas then you may end up doing more harm than good, or even land yourself in legal trouble. Once you get the basics right, you can start experimenting with more advanced email marketing techniques.

Download our permission guidelines document (PDF).