Email marketing is 'cheap and simple'

14th November 2007

The internet is an effective tool for small businesses to target their customers, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Head of interactive media for the DMA Robert Dirskovski said that email marketing is "a very efficient" and "flexible" advertising strategy with low entry costs.

"You can adapt the message according to the respondents. You'll know almost instantly whether or not the communication has been appropriately targeted," he said.

Using social network sites or blogs to advertise is a different story, he said and marketers "need to be very careful" when trying to get a message across using these sites.

The DMA's Email Benchmarking Report claims that there has been a sharp increase in the number of email addresses held by email service providers between the third quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007.

Mr Dirskovski said that making sure an email database is accurate is a "basic requirement" of any company embarking on internet marketing.