Email marketing is touted as the king of all affordable methods in all Internet marketing techniques, labelled as the killer solution that accomplishes online marketing endeavours with minimal cost. The reason is that notwithstanding newer forms of advertising, email remains as the most widely used (and the most reliable) method of bringing traffic to Websites. Email is also utilized to get in touch with prospects, to make special offers, or to send out invitations.

Marketing via email can be as easy as writing an email to a friend, or sending out newsletters and announcements. Even if you have a huge client list, sending the email to everyone can be done with a single click. But email marketing need not be as haphazard as mailing to a friend. There is a business savvy way of going about it.

Business savvy tips in email marketing

Spam must remain in the can. Marketing by email does not mean spamming. Always send out emails that your recipients will find valuable.

Send emails that recipients will actually open. Your email will go together with other unopened mail in the recipient's inbox. To ensure your customers will actually read your mail, use eye-catching and relevant words in the subject line. Ask compelling questions, and be very careful in using the word 'free.'

Too good to be true: When offering discounts, the biggest discount does not sound as good as a SUBSTANTIAL discount. Don't give out your products lower than your profits - this defeats the whole purpose of email marketing.

Make an event, well, eventful. Keep your email list informed of upcoming events. If you have already sent out invitations, request an RSVP email. It's also OK to be repetitive and send reminder emails, just remember not to send emails coming too close one after another.

Information matters: post news. Send regular newsletters and postcards to your subscriber list. This is the best ways to remain in touch with your prospects. Keep whatever information you send as succinct as possible, without forgetting the proper amount of a hook.

Outsourcing email marketing

Perhaps the single most important thing to remember in email marketing is that for it to become effective, it must be persistent. In the first place, keeping your clients and prospects informed of your offers and upcoming events requires some maintenance - regularity is intrinsic in the strategy. Remember also that you have to compete for attention in the inbox, so it's a good thing for retention if you can be regularly seen in the sender list of your prospects.

For small and medium businesses, the best way to maintain an email marketing strategy is to outsource to an Internet marketing firm. If you have staff only for your core business, it will not make sense to spend manpower on this task alone. Internet marketing firms, however, can take away this burden from you.