What Are the Different Types of Email Marketing Programs?

Email marketing programs are one of the most cost-effective types of business tools used to generate sales for companies operating online or offline. Taking advantage of the fact that most people now use email to communicate, advertisers can prepare effective electronic advertising that is sent directly to email accounts, and hopefully generate enough interest to lead to a sale. Using email programs can include a variety of marketing approaches and strategies aimed at reaching specific sectors of consumers. While there are different ideas about how to classify these varying programs, most will fall under one of four categories: direct email, retention email, piggyback email, or video email.

Direct email marketing programs make use of a simple text-based email notification that is intended to reach prospective customers and motivate them to look into the goods or services offered in more detail. In some cases, this option will include some graphics along with the text, and is likely to include a link to a company site somewhere in the body of the email itself. Businesses normally attempt to use what is known as qualified email listings, meaning that the recipients on the list have indicated their willingness to receive solicitations for products similar to those sold by the sender. Doing so helps to minimize the chances of the email being considered spam and either blocked or at least deleted without being read.

A second approach is to use retention email marketing programs. Typically, these programs serve two specific purposes. Since the list used is composed of customers who have made purchases in the past, the idea is to entice them to reorder those items. A secondary aspect of retention email programs is to introduce new products to existing customers, hopefully leading to those same customers purchasing those new products while still continuing to place orders for products they’ve already purchased from the sender.

Piggypack email marketing programs involve advertising within an email sent by another company that offers products that can be used in tandem with your products. For example, if you sell a line of vitamins, you may partner with another vendor who sells herbal remedies and create an email marketing campaign that effectively presents two product lines in a single email. This approach can be especially effective if some incentive is included, such as a discount on orders that include products offered by both vendors.

One of the newer options with email marketing programs is the use of video emails to promote different products. This approach has the benefit of providing a chance to appeal to both the audio and visual senses of recipients, a combination that may lead to higher sales volumes. While this approach can be effective, email advertising of this type will take longer to load on a slower connection, which may be problematic if the consumer demographics you are attempting to reach tend to make use of dial-up or even less robust DSL services to connect to the Internet.