E-mail Advertising

E-mail advertising is a hybrid advertising.  It is a combination of Internet advertising and direct-mail advertising.  It is a form of Internet advertising for the obvious reason that it is accessed using the Internet.  It has many similarities to direct-mail advertising.  People checking their e-mail often get frustrated with spam, the electronic version of junk mail.  For this reason most advertisers only send e-mail to those who have requested it.  Like direct mail, E-mail normally tells a reader where to go to make a purchase, but readers can not purchase directly through e-mail.  E-mail advertising usually contains a link to the advertised sale, product, or simply the advertisers Web site.  Direct-mail advertisements commonly list several store locations along with a Web address for those that wish to shop online.  Amazon.com is a big believer in E-mail advertising.  Amazon.com sends out E-mail suggestions for recent customers daily.   One such E-mail advertising their Cyber Monday deals in TV, video, and audio is pictured below.

Pros and Cons

E-mail advertising is favored because:

• Direct-mail advertising has always been an extremely effective medium; however, in the past it was also very costly.  E-mail, on the other hand, is very cheap but still effective like direct-mail advertising.
• E-mail marketing can turn into viral marketing, the Internet version of word of mouth.  This further lowers the cost of advertising, gives E-mail a massive reach, and can improve its effectiveness.
• If an individual has purchased from your site, or even viewed items on your site, you can target their interest through E-mail advertising.  Some sites will even send reminder E-mails if a potential customer leaves an item in their online shopping cart.

The problems with E-mail advertising include:

• Sometimes E-mail, even when requested, will be sent straight to a recipients spam folder.  If it does then it may never be seen.  
• It is difficult to find the right balance of E-mail.  If a recipient receives E-mail from a company too often they will get annoyed and unsubscribe; however, if a recipient hardly receives E-mail they may not know about promotions that they would have been interested in.

Interesting Facts

• Approximately 50% of advertisers use animated gifs in their E-mail campaigns.  This is considered rich mail.  Rich mail allows graphics, video, and audio to be included in E-mail.
• For every dollar that is spent on E-mail advertising, on average, $44.25 is the return on the investment. 
• There are currently 3.6 billion E-mail accounts and this number is rising.