Bulk Email, Marketing

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Marketing Methods - Bulk Email - Lesson 6


Bulk email can be used for many things. It can be used for mass mailing to your clientele list, newsletter list, opt-in list or it can be unsolicited email (this has earned a reputation as "spam"). There are many good ways to use bulk email. Bulk email is sending email to a group of people with whom you have a relationship and spam is sending a large quantity of emails to people with whom you have no relationship. Bulk email is sent to lists of people including customers, leads, auto-responder follow-ups, newsletter lists, opt-in lists etc.

It is both intuitive and supported by research that an email inbox is a much more effective place to communicate with a prospective client than a website. In order to get to your prospective client's inbox, it takes the website to get the necessary permission to communicate with them by email. A good opt-in program can be a very effective Internet marketing tool.

There are two main methods to do bulk email. The direct approach is one in which the email explains upfront that there is something for sale. The indirect approach is to draw the customer in with something that they get for free, and then build a relationship and credibility.

There are a few keys to successful emails:

  • Make sure that you email a targeted list of people who could be interested in your product or service. It has been claimed that this technique will account for 50% of the results you will get.
  • Make sure that your emails are clear, concise, to the point and offer benefits to the reader.
  • Make sure that you follow proper email etiquette.
  • Make sure that it is easy for the user to respond to your email. Give the user alternate ways of contacting you if possible. It gives your business credibility and some people may want to make contact with a person before they commit to buying.
  • Offer something for free. Even if you don't have a product or service for free, offer free tips, information advice etc.

Opt-In Programs


Email is a fantastic tool that works in conjunction with other interactive features of a website to create a flow of communication with prospective clients. The aim is to get consent from the recipients of your emails before emailing them. The best way to get that consent is to have your users perform an action on your website that establishes that consent. Such devices are called "opt-in" programs.

The simplest example of an opt-in program is to have a line on your website that says "Sign up for our newsletter" and provides a form for the viewer to submit their email address. You can use your creativity to generate more attractive opt-in options. Getting people's email addresses when they participate in contests is quite a popular method. Many e-businesses offer viewers the opportunity to win something by submitting their email addresses. There are often interactive games that pit the viewer against other players around the world, and the scores and results of the games are communicated to the participants via email. One interesting game has a slot machine interface on the site that you can play for free, but if you accumulate any winnings you have to opt-in to collect your money.

There are numerous kinds of opt-ins available on the Internet. You can sign up to receive news, weather, stock tips, pictures, updates, scores, and many other types of information sent to your email address. There are many educational opt-in programs that cover a wide variety of subjects.

You can also allow people to post information on your Website and thereby gain consent to email them. Examples of this are Business Directories and Free For All pages. All it takes to come up with a clever opt-in program is imagination.

Email Service Providers


You can rent targeted lists from certain bulk email services. The cost of each deliverable email would be a matter of cents. There are two very important questions that you need to ask if you use a service like this:

  1. How did the service provider obtain the list of email addresses?
    This will tell you how suitable the lists would be for the product or service you are selling. If the company used a targeted method, you can get a better understanding of the demographics of the lists. Make sure that you avoid lists that were harvested from newsgroups and similar areas on the Internet.

  2. Are the lists comprised of people who subscribed voluntarily?

    If the users subscribed voluntarily, you will get a much better response than if you were to send your advertising emails to random email addresses.