E-mail Marketing: Communicating Effectively

Billions of dollars have been spent over the years on focus groups, market research and test products, all trying to figure out consumer tastes. Instead, nowadays catalogers can use opt-in e-mail marketing as a quick, low-cost way to track customers’ interests.

Opt-in e-mail marketing allows catalogers to capture a customer’s profile when he or she first opts in, providing them with specific customer information that can help shape and target promotions. Opt-in e-mail marketing services can provide customizable lists of survey questions, but do not think of them as a replacement to market research—where a consumer will happily answer questions about chocolates for 20 minutes. Remember e-mail is a medium that thrives on speed. Requiring a customer to provide too many answers will leave you with many empty checkboxes.