What it was like then

Not so long ago, when the Internet was new, there were only a few people taking advantage of its marketing potential. There was hardly any competition back then and internet marketing wasn’t all that. Competitors were few and far between. Since there was little or no competition, all you had to do was make a good sales presentation, ask them to buy and deliver your product. Business email lists were not a hit either, although a few had already started keeping a list of clients for future offers.

Back then it was very easy to build a targeted direct mailing list of potential customers. You simply have to build a website, optimize it for search engines with the right keywords then offer a newsletter on your site. That’s all it took, and you would just have to wait. And wait.

And then Internet marketing evolved and the power of email marketing was unleashed. Internet marketing then largely consisted of email blast marketing and getting e-mail sales pitches right with links to a purchase page. E-mail marketers started focusing on crafting the perfect e-mail than about getting the right message to the right prospect. They also made the mistake of failing to integrate the relationship building aspect of marketing.

The lesson learned was that not all people are willing to subscribe to become part of emailing lists. They may have been interested in the products or services offered at one time but may not want to receive further information. Spamming became a serious offense and today, it still carries more repercussions. Email marketing in the past had become a disgraceful method of marketing. So how do you reach my customers that want to hear from you without being accused of spamming?

Permission-based email marketing

The concern about spamming in email marketing has led to the creation of the email list and it has gained tremendous acceptance. The concept of permission- based email marketing became the solution to spamming, but much more than that, it has given a venue for marketers and business owners to get creative with getting people to sign up for their opt-in lists.

Permission-based email marketing can be seamlessly intertwined with any marketing campaign, it can give your online business the best solution possible to generate email addresses with the permission of the addressee. Building and marketing to an opt-in list not only increases the probability of success but can also boost sales and profits, because you have asked your customer to make a choice to receive your emails, so you are now only sending information to a very receptive customer. You can therefore promote your products and services to someone who has confirmed they are interested in you and what you provide.

Just make sure that you always offer the opportunity to un-subscribe at any time, this way, you only keep the most interested customers in your sites and in your list. Using opt-in email lists will give you a better margin of success. Indeed, email marketing is a profitable internet marketing tool and should be integrated into your efforts today.

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