The benefits of email marketing outweigh the disadvantages for many businesses.  This does not mean that email marketing is for everyone.  Before launching an email marketing campaign or program, each business should carefully plan out a course of action and the resources it will need for successful email marketing.  One of the biggest pros of email marketing is that it is inexpensive.  Technically speaking, it can be done at almost no cost to the company, although this is not usually the case.  Even if a company opts to use an email marketing company, it still costs less than a penny an email.  Compared to the time and money it would take to execute a bulk mailing, it is clearly more affordable.  Our email marketing system also makes it easy to design emails so almost anyone can send out an HTML email.

Another email marketing benefit is that it works.  Email marketing has been proven to help drive traffic to websites, increase customer loyalty, and increase sales.  It is also an extremely fast way to get a message out.  I have worked with companies that needed to get information out to thousands of people under very urgent circumstances.  In this case, a mass email was the only way to achieve this.  Emails can also be targeted.  Based on the information that is gathered on customers, emails can be targeted based on age, gender, geographic location, interest, etc.  

One con of email marketing is that there is some cost.  Even though these emails, whether written in plain text or HTML, can be sent out through any email system, most business should use an online management system for several reasons.  There are legal issues with spamming and allowing users to unsubscribe.  Using a management system provides solutions to these issues by managing subscribers and keeping track of those who opt out.  Another main reason is that they make the design easy.  We create custom stationary for each client that is tested on all browsers.  A company would have to employ or hire a web designer to do this, which may not make sense.  Of course ROI is crucial and we provide open rates, click through rates, forwards, and spam reports.

Another possible con is that there should be a person or team responsible for tracking these emails and interpreting the statistics.  They need to know what to look for and how to modify emails in the future to make they more successful.  This is a time requirement for the company.  At Partis, we work closely with clients and provide support with interpreting these statistics.  Another con of email marketing is finding a balance.  If a company has a small email list, they will probably have a high success rate with the emails.  Of course one of the goals of email marketing is to build the email list.  As the list grows, open rates may decrease.  It can be challenging to find a balance between quality emails and quantity.  This is another area where Partis can provide support both with planning and content.  

One of the biggest cons is that there is a lot of competition.   Many emails are just not relevant.  Do people really care if deck chairs are on sale if they do not have a deck?  Too many or irrelevant emails can prompt people to unsubscribe.  Many times the offer or sale is the same if you go to a store or website, so the email is just an annoyance.  Many people, especially those under 30, would rather go to one site that collected offers or emails.  Companies like Shop It To Me have capitalized on this trend and will hunt for the best offers on the web for companies that the user specifies.  That way they can eliminate the junk and get just what they are looking for.  

I think that the best way to conduct a successful email campaign is to plan ahead.  Companies should do their research and think about their customers to determine the frequency of emails.  They should not just be randomly sent or sent when someone gets around to it.  If they are monthly, they should be roughly planed out in advance and sent on the same day each month.  This will help to ensure regularity and let the customer how frequently to expect them.  

The next step is to make the emails relevant and interesting.  I get an email every month from a company that I have not used in years.  It arrives during the first week of the month and summarizes local events for the month, good deals, tips, and recipes.  It does not contain too much info about the company, but serves as a reminder that they are there.  If I ever needed this service, they would be the first company I call.  I always read the emails and look forward to them.  Even though emails should be relevant to the company, they do not have to be all about the company itself.  These types of emails can help to build loyalty and drive traffic to websites while still being interesting and relevant.  Targeting emails goes right along with this.  It does not make much sense to send out a list of events in Georgia to customers in New Hampshire.  By gathering customer data emails can be more relevant to the recipient.  Successful email marketing requires planning and time, but can yield great results for companies that make the investment.