Email ads, really worth it?

Hey guys

I was just woundering if any of you have used the "opt" in email advertiseing campigns that are flying around right now? Have they produced any results for you at all? I am thinking of purchaseing a few for a few sites of mine. Im not sure its a right thing to do. As forecing ads on people can some times tick them off, as i do when i visit my mail and have 10 spam mails waiting for me.

I would love to hear your views on this.

thanks

 

While I have never tried it, I cant remember the last email ad I opened. I even just delete the opt in ones due to the high amounts of advertising.

 

In this day an age with the amount of spam that's flying around i'd say this form of online marketing isn't a good idea. I, like drig just don't bother opening these kind of emails.

Saying that though, i guess it depends on the market you're trying to target. Us, as webmasters being quite web savvy can see straight through these kind of things. Other, less web savvy users might think differently.

 

Nice points. Added some rep for you.

 

I've done the same.

 

I would say the sucess percentage will be on the lower side, unless u have some catchy title and the email list u are sending to is related to the product u are marketing.

 

A company I know uses Opt-in email to Send your email advertisement to reach targeted opt-in permission based email recipients. That means your advertisement will only go to people who are looking for your product. View @ majon.com Hope this is helpful

 

never tried it, and dont plan on trying it either

 

I'm glad I read this thread because I've also been wondering how well email marketing would do. I don't read them unless they are from some site I have joined. I don't like getting spam and I figured most other people wouldn't want it either.

 

I know there are success stories going on out there in regards to email marketing, coupled with butterfly marketing. Just how you approach it and how 'focused' your opt-in list is.

 

I was always wondering is it possible to use a large directory for this purpose. Without making your link owners feel like they are being used.

 

Wow, I can't believe some of the responses here. Either everyone has just had bad experiences as receivers of mail or chose the wrong Email Service Providers (ESP) and/or Lists. If email is done right, you can expect a much higher ROI than any other form of internet marketing. Add the fact that it's fairly instant results and you don't have to build it up for months on end makes it a very effective medium.

Just because you personally don't like getting email offers doesn't mean that it isn't effective. You don't know unless you are on the sending end and have sent email ads before. Others do see the ads and even click them.

Newsletters are pretty hot right now, and sponsoring a newsletter is a much more effective campaign than a flat opt-in offer. Not to discount offer campaigns, they still can bring in a stead stream of traffic and revenue.

 

+1 For Roadies' response...one thing a person who is advertising readily forgets is that it doesn't matter if YOU like your ad (or ad medium) or not, what matters is that it appeals to your target demographic.

For instance, you may be "above" fart jokes, but if you are targeting teenage guys, well that just works.

Email marketing, if done properly, is extremely cost-effective. Will you be getting hated on by the anti-spam extremists? Sure, but who cares, they probably live in their mom's basement...meanwhile the campaign you launched for $1500 raked in a cool $10-$15K in a matter of DAYS...once again, depends what you are promoting and how well you select your target demographic.

 

What about all the Spam blockers? Most of my spam goes to a special folder and I never click on them unless they are from someone I do business with or have been to their site. Isn't this what most of us do to prevent viruses?

 

Spam blockers work but not enough people use them for there to be a significant enough dent in the ROI on email marketing. I find that the emails getting thru my spam blockers are usually plain text, written as normal emails. Even some HTML email makes its way thru, as spam blocking is more art than science at this point.

 

There is a BIG difference between sending spam and being a clean sender. If you monitor your reputation, send to clean lists only, and work with ISPs and accreditation services (or your ESP does this for you), you can always have a 90% or higher deliverability rate.

 

I heard that gurus make more money with their email lists than with adwords. I guess it's how you use your email lists. Spamming is never good, but if you get your visitor to subscribe for some information or a bonus, you can send him the info and bonus via e-mail and mention your product somewhere. You can get a decent conversion via emails.

 

I don't think it will work. Often people tend to delete the email ads.

 

I think there's a bit of misunderstanding here.

1) Spam is when you harvest email addresses from the web or
worse, randomly generate millions in the hope that you'll hit
a percentage of live ones.

2) Email advertising is when you pay to put your ads in someone
elses emails, as a sponsor (similar to putting AdSense on your
website).

3) Safelists are bought lists of emails that have opted in to
receive marketing information. Often they are untargeted, and
usually about as quality as Digg traffic (ie, not very).

4) Opt in lists are built by you, from visitors to your website
that have chosen to be on your newsletter list. They want to
receive email from you, and it is not spam.

1. Is obviously a waste of time, and illegal.

2. I have no experience with, but it seems some people find it
useful, and some don't. I guess it depends on how targeted
the list is, and how relevant your ads are, and on the money
spending capacity of the niche.

3. These lists can be very generic and have a wide variety of
people on them, many of whom may not know they're on them.
Of course this varies from provider to provider.

4. The cream of the crop. Hand built by you, each and every
subscriber is on the list for the right reasons, and so they will
read your email most of the time.

Having an email list is a major weapon in an internet marketer's
arsenal - you can direct traffic to wherever you like. Imagine
having 10,000 people on your list, and you have just launched
a new product.

Even with conversions of 1%, you've still just made 100 sales
from 5 minutes work sending out the email.

 

Totally - as long as its a totally straightup opt-in list, you can see instant results. Everything you do there is vital to whether its a success, or a failure which makes a bunch of people angry! (If they perceive it as spam, even if *technically* its not).

Think about Subject lines, email text - all very important. Professional, but not cheesy sales pitch in my opinion. Not much experience in this field, but just my thoughts on it...