Opt-in Email Marketing

With the advent of online marketing came the nuisance of spam. When spam is a problem when it comes to email marketing, not many consumers would want to take the opportunity to respond or be an active consumer. To answer the problem of spam, came the solution of opt-in email marketing.

What is Opt-in Email Marketing?

Opt-in Email marketing is when the consumer has the freedom to choose which promotional or direct email he or she will respond to.

What is the Difference between Opt-in and Opt-out?

In Opt-in email marketing, the consumer is given a list of choices or tick boxes that if clicked, means that the consumer would like to be contacted in that form of communication. In Opt-out marketing, the consumer is given already ticked boxes. All the consumer has to do is to un-tick the choices he or she would choose not to be bothered with.

Opt-in Email Marketing can be sent in a variety of ways:

• Email lists - A well-thought out email list means that there is a greater chance that each and every one of the company's targeted consumer will respond to most of the choices presented by the company. This means that the consumer will opt to be contacted through various forms by the company, either by direct email, email advertising and promotional emails.

• Bulk mailer - This software allows the company to send direct emails to a large group of audience. The disadvantage when it comes to bulk mailing is that not all of the consumers that receive the company's email will be interested. Bulk mailing will receive better responses when opt-out marketing is the strategy in place.

• Targeted email - This type of email is different from bulk mailing in that the emails are sent to an interested or potentially interested groups of people. When an opt-in email marketing strategy is in place, there is a high percentage that most of the targeted consumers will opt-in to different forms of contact with the company.

One great solution to acquiring any of these mailing options is through the service of list marketing. Here, companies can buy or rent a large number of email addresses that can serve as a potential pool of customers.

Opt-In Email Marketing and Spam

When a consumer is given the option to choose whether they want to be sent promotional emails, direct emails or advertising emails, this is not considered spam. When a consumer is being sent emails that he or she did not subscribe or agree to, this is considered spam and delivers a high probability that a consumer will be turned-off by that company.