Direct marketing email campaigns are a great way to engage current customers, but they can also be helpful in recruiting new ones.  Due to legal constraints it can be difficult and costly to purchase a list of email addresses of your target market, though a simple cost effective work around is to append email addresses to a mailing list or to rent a list of email addresses. The way email address appending or e-appending works is that the name and mailing address of a mailing list is matched to databases of email addresses that have opted in to recieve marketing emails.  The match rate is typically about 20% but can depend on the quality of the mailing list and availability of email addresses. 

 Once you have an email list the next step will be to design an attractive email.  Most notably you want your subject line to be enticing so that your target audience opens the email.  You will also want to avoid wording that makes emails sound like spam, so it is not flagged by spam blockers.  A good rule to follow is that your email should add value for your target audience and be something that they will want to open.

  You should use a trusted server to send out these emails.  Using your own server to send out marketing email campaigns could get your server blacklisted as sending spam.  Additionally online platforms like Constant Contact and MailChimp often prohibit using purchase lists on their platforms.

One effective way to increase open rates would be to send a direct mail piece to the address either right before or after the email campaign.  With USPS tracking software it is possible to have an email triggered by the delivery of a direct mail piece.  This mutli-channel marketing approach will help the end user recognize your brand and increase the likelihood that they will open your email or read you direct mail piece.

Once the email is opened it is important to ensure that the offer is easy to act on.  Links should be easily accessible and take the end user directly to a web address where they can act on the offer presented.  Personalized landing pages are often helpful in aiding the target audience to act on the offer.  It is also important that links are mobile friendly because the majority of respondents will read the email on their phone or tablet. 

Email marketing can be an effective tool to drive new business or communicate with your existing clients, but with so many emails and spam blockers emails can often be overlooked.  Ensure your communication reaches your target audience ensure that the email address you are using have opted into receiving marketing emails and you are sending the email from a trusted server.  Additionally, using a multi-channel approach and making it easy for your audience to act on the offer.