Email as a medium is used every day by millions of people all over the world.

No other Internet service is more successful and it’s simply impossible to imagine both private and business communication without email as it has become an integral part of our daily life.

A very interesting marketing book states that: “Web sites may have been the first wonder of the Internet, banner advertising may have astonished marketing mavens around the world, streaming media might someday give us the video phones we were promised at the New York World’s Fair in 1964, but email marketing will bring people to your site and keep them coming back for more.” Jim Sterne, the author of the book “World Wide Web Marketing” seems to know the business pretty well. And in addition, he presents the right arguments to convince us of his point of view. To do this, he used the compiled list by IDG of the “10 Benefits of Emailing” which is comprehensive and so well structured that I thought it would be of interest to you as well. It points out the characteristic traits of a highly qualified email list as the following:
  1. Quick lead generation – Email has quick output and quick response for lead generation.
  2. Selectivity – Email offers the same list selectivity as traditional list rental.
  3. Media reinforcement – Email can be an adjunct to any media to quickly reinforce a message, product announcement, seminar date, or trade show.
  4. Cost effectiveness – Email is extremely cost effective on a cost-per-contact basis for customer acquisition.
  5. Higher response – Overall responses may be higher, as only relevant materials will be sent, which assure a more receptive audience for the offer.
  6. Lower costs – There are no production, paper, or postage costs – only the cost of the email server companies.
  7. Privacy issues – Subscribers choose to receive email solicitation through a negative option given upon subscribing. Subscribers are also aware of the source of their name and are always given the choice to opt out. This addresses the privacy issue directly and again assures a responsive audience.
  8. Customer dialogue – As an interactive medium, email establishes a dialogue with new and present customers. Repeated messages can create effective brand awareness or a continued response from and conversation with the customer.
  9. Trackability – Email is also a traceable medium, as you can direct responders to answer through many types of response vehicles.
  10. No postal undeliverability. Undeliverable emails are quickly identified and an effort is made to correct them and resend.

And at the end, he reminds us that there is only one crucial principle to email that we have to respect - avoiding spam.