Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level

Is Email the Perfect Marketing Tool?

By Duncan ShandFounder, InsideOutBlog: http://www.iout.co.nz

One of the most overlooked marketing tools has to be the simple email. It’s fast and cheap to deploy; it’s instant and easily absorbed by the consumer. Just as email has developed over the past 10 years from a novelty to something that we can’t live without, over the past 5 years marketers have moved to include email marketing as part of their budgets.

There are a number of different ways you can deploy email marketing, from a simple, offer-based execution to a very complex, segmented campaign. The beauty is that you can start with an easy, basic program and develop it over time to make it more efficient. There are a surprisingly large number of businesses that still don’t take full advantage of this tool, but the good thing is that it’s easy to get going.

One of the biggest drivers of email marketing is its return on investment. DoubleClick’s Touchpoints III survey (http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge_central/) underlines the importance of email and online marketing as part of the marketing mix. The influence your website has on sales is becoming increasingly recognized. In 8 out of 10 industry sectors, the company website was in the top four resources used for research before an eventual purchase. Email, of course, is the link for your customer to find your website.

However, email is more than just a delivery device to bring people to your website. It offers the chance to keep ...