When many people think of "email marketing," they think of opt-in email promotions. That is, where you buy a product online and click on the check box for "send me periodic mailings with news of related products and services from XYZ, Inc." Then, once a month, you get a short promotional email.
This is a very common model of
email marketing, and it has proven itself to be one of the most effective digital marketing techniques. The problem arises when you take this model of email marketing and apply it to
email newsletters.
Many companies don't understand that the purpose of email newsletters is customer retention, while the purpose of email promotions is customer acquisition.
The goal of email promotions is immediate action. The design and copywriting guide the reader through a sales funnel with the objective of closing the sale. A sale is often a purchase, but other goals include downloads, sign-ups, registrations, and other kinds of actions.
Unless part of a drip marketing campaign (triggered emails), promotional emails are usually short-term in value. If the email recipient doesn't respond immediately to the offer, then the value of the email has been lost. It has little long-term influence on the recipient.
