Email Advertising

A company that delivers its sales messages directly to prospects through an email address practices email advertising. These commercial emails usually include links to websites. The consumer can click on the links to purchase a product, or get more information about it. The marketer then tracks the number of emails opened, and the number of times the links in the email were clicked. Finally, the marketer can track the conversion rate, which is the number of sales completed as a result of the email advertising campaign.

Many marketers now use only opt-in lists, so messages are not considered to be spam. Spam messages are unsolicited bulk emails sent to people who did not request to receive such email. Generally, these lists are created when a consumer requests to receive information and sales messages from a specific company.

Some opt-in lists are built for the purpose of allowing other companies to use them. In this instance, the customer opts in to receive email messages on a specific topic from various companies. Marketers can then rent these lists, or have the list owner send an email out on behalf of the marketer. This is also known as an email blast service, or an opt-in emailing service.

Email advertising users face some challenges as well. The sheer volume of email a person receives makes it hard for a single message to stand out and be noticed. Even opt-in email can end up the recipient's bulk, or junk, mail folder, since the email is sent to many prospects at once. Many consumers empty these folders without even looking at the contents.