Email marketing

History and Types of Email Marketing - Email marketing evolved alongside technological growth in the 21st century. - In 1978, the first mass email was sent by Gary Thuerk, resulting in $13 million worth of sales. - In the 1990s, email marketing faced challenges with spam filters and blocking programs. - Email marketing allows for measuring effectiveness and returns on investment. - It provides real-time feedback and market penetration insights. - Email marketing can be carried out through different types of emails. - Transactional emails are triggered based on a customer's action with a company. - Direct emails involve sending promotional messages to a list of email addresses. - Other types include newsletters, abandoned cart emails, and order confirmation emails. - Specialized software vendors offer transactional email marketing services. Advantages of Email Marketing - Email marketing is cost-effective, with most costs falling on the recipient. - Detailed analytics provide insights into open rates and click-through rates. - Automation tools save time and effort in scheduling and sending emails. - Email service providers gather information on recipient behavior. - A significant number of internet users check or send email daily. Comparison to Traditional Mail - Email marketing is cheaper and faster than traditional mail. - Detailed analytics are available to track campaign performance. - Automation tools make scheduling and sending emails easier. - Insights from email marketing help understand consumer behavior. - Emails delivered between 1 am and 5 am have higher open and click rates. Disadvantages of Email Marketing - Email deliverability can be an issue, with legitimate email servers averaging a 73% delivery rate in the US. - Compliance with spam laws and acceptable use policies is essential. - Excessive or untargeted emails can irritate consumers and lead to unsubscribing. - Untargeted emails result in low click-through rates. - Email marketing performance can be hindered by legal restrictions and negative brand associations. Legal Requirements for Email Marketing - Australian Spam Act 2003 enforced by ACMA - Canada Anti-Spam Law (CASL) implemented in 2014 - European Union Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications introduced in 2002 - UK incorporates the directive into the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 - CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 passed in response to spam complaints - GDPR in 2018 imposes new requirements on companies collecting personal data from EU users