The Reality of Free Email Marketing

The use of "free" has become a marketing staple for Internet businesses, from free shipping and handling to the BOGO or buy-one, get-one free offers. Of course Internet shopkeepers didn’t invent this but have expanded on it from the early days of retail marketing.

So let’s take the "free" aspect of Internet marketing one step further and consider the reality of free email marketing. First, consider the difference between the restrictive costs and processes that go into the old paper trail of direct mail, newspaper and magazine advertising and the nominal costs associated with email marketing newsletters.

Okay, email marketing isn’t exactly free but if you're using the comparison above then it really is almost free! No matter what avenue you take there are constants with any marketing plan. From the time it takes to create images, write your messages, and plan weekly sales to the delivery of your promotion to customers, there are costs associated with any marketing plan.

However, with email marketing newsletters once it is completed it can be sent out immediately to one or one million customers – no wait time for printing, assembly, and delivery. No muss – no fuss!

There are several email marketing companies that offer a wide range of services to make your email marketing newsletters more streamlined in regard to creation and easy-to-track results so you can assess the effectiveness of this part of your marketing plan. Comparatively, there is no reliable method to track traditional print media marketing.

If you use web-based permission email marketing solutions then you are bumping the effectiveness of your email marketing newsletters up a notch by adding another layer of security that your subscribers will respond positively to. You may also want to add a disclaimer to your sign-up forms that states you do not share customer information with any third parties. This will go a long way to building your subscriber lists, as your current subscribers will feel confident in sharing your newsletters with friends and family.

Your email marketing newsletters will also be a great asset to building traffic on your website as subscribers will be more inclined to click the links as they read your newsletter. And those are the links that you choose – helping to take a bit of control over the content your customers see first.

And don’t forget customer feedback. Adding survey links to your HTML email newsletter templates tells your customers that their complete satisfaction in your products and services is important to you. This builds trust and, best of all, repeat sales!