HTML email marketing

Sincerely relevant or Spam?

If not already, at some point or another, companies are going to look at HTML emails as a marketing tool or possibly launch a new venture based on this strategy. If well planned and the data is permissioned properly then they have every chance of succeeding.

The same principles as for direct mail apply in requesting consent to use an email address but the approach needs to be more upfront. Email inboxes are consantly bombarded by spam, therefore particular attention must be paid to the integrity of people's profile – both for the recipient and the marketer. The recipient needs to know that when they receive HTML emails, their data has been attained because a) they gave permission willingly and don't feel like they were duped and b) because they want to receive offers of a certain nature. Otherwise companies run the risk of spoiling 'brand perception' and tainting their image as 'junk'. The relevancy of the offer to a tighly targeted audience will ensure a higher outsome than a 'hit and miss' approach.

Marketers need honest data. The obvious – it costs money to email, and performance figures linked to a poor campaign does nothing to uplift any of the parties involved in the long run. It is well know that well permissioned data outperforms prospect sources that fall down on the privacy aspect.

With technology advancements, an HTML email campaign can request the recipent to respond via the email, ei checkboxes and a form to be submitted. Responses are delivered directly into a database ready for analysing and actioning.

HTML email marketing is an exciting medium but one must not lose sight of the global picture and question how it fits with a company's marketing strategy. It's not all good news – HTML marketing is not suitable for all campaigns. If brand positioning needs to be established, then the traditional methods of promotion are still the best.