Newsletters and mailed catalogs were a common means of marketing prior to the Internet, and were an excellent way to inform potential customers of new products or deals. With the new age of communications technology, an email marketing campaign has become yet another tool in the arsenal of a business. This allows a company to reach millions of potential customers with relative ease, showing off their newest products or bargains. All that is required is someone capable of designing the email ad and the addresses to send them to. Not every company will have this kind of capability, but there are companies that they can outsource such functions to.
Keeping connected with present customers
Email marketing is not a common service for outsourcing companies to provide, though this is changing slowly. One of the main functions of this service is to improve an existing merchant-consumer relationship. This can be accomplished by sending customers updates about the product line or rewards for customer loyalty. In some instances, companies can also use this to inform customers of new accessories or upgrades for existing products. The choice to outsource this type of contact should not be made lightly, as the outsourcing provider is essentially taking on the task of presenting the company’s image.
Gathering potential customers
The second function of an email marketing campaign is to attract new customers to the business. Sending emails to various addresses to stir up new business is a common practice. This will normally involve products and sales pitches, to convince potential customers to at least look into what the company has to offer. Not every company will have the required list of addresses to send to, and may choose an outsourcing company to perform this task instead. Some IT outsourcing companies have lists on hand, while others have means of acquiring these lists without violating existing privacy laws.
Advantages
According to data from IT outsourcing companies, email marketing campaigns are usually successful in their goals. The method has the established advantage of making it easier to track just how much revenue the company made from the emails. It is also considered second only to search engine optimization in terms of effectiveness as an online marketing tactic. The method also requires very little resources apart from the list of email addresses – often cited as the only major difficulty in this approach.
An email marketing campaign can be an effective way to get new business or to keep current customers connected with the company. There have been some privacy concerns about this, but a company can take a number of basic measures to ensure that all legal requirements are met. The method can be effective if used properly, and business owners can outsource the task if they do not have the in-house resources to do it themselves.