Companies now routinely use digital media to engage with customers, clients and partners, with emails in particular firmly established as a popular means of communication.
And despite the emergence of alternatives such as social media, analysts are confident it will continue to be widely used. Indeed, Heather Taylor of Econsultancy has dismissed the suggestion that email is "dead", as this means of contacting people "works better than anything else".
But simply sending emails is not always enough – businesses have to be sure they are making the best use of the addresses they hold and targeting their desired audience effectively.
If companies send out mass emails, it is probable that an individual is not going to go through each and every recipient's address to see if all their details are correct beforehand.
But this does mean that occasional errors and typos can slip through the net, such as the name of a person not quite matching the name in the email address.
On the face of it, this may not appear to be a big problem, but if mistakes along these lines end up being missed, the email will not reach its intended recipient. And if a business is actively trying to target individuals and organizations via email, this simply undermines and reduces the effectiveness of its whole marketing strategy.
"Problems with email often come from tactics," Ms Taylor commented.
"Companies who are creating precise and unique email campaigns continue to find the highest return. For them, this is often the best way for communicating with customers and prospects over the long-term."
So what can companies do to minimize the chances of mistakes happening? Email validation software can be used to make sure all the information is correct and that messages are going to their intended destinations.
This means the number of bounce backs can be reduced significantly, which is vital if a company wants to stop its emails from being picked up by spam filters. After all, these security systems look unfavorably on senders that are known for constantly emailing inaccurate addresses.
If email validation software has been used, promotional emails will be positioned right at the top of the intended recipient's inbox, rather than in their junk mail folder, so they will be far more likely to open and read it. If this results in a conversion, the message has done its job, and so has the email validation tool.
This all helps a brand to offer a much better service to customers, clients and partners, and can significantly help to boost its overall credibility.
Businesses could complement this with an email verification system, which can confirm whether the address a person submits into an online form actually exists or is formatted correctly. Some companies are reluctant to add a Confirm Email field to an online form, as they believe it can put people off completing it. So if an address's veracity can be checked as soon as it is entered, people may be much happier to submit their details and engage with a brand again in the future.
If companies are using technology to target their audience, it makes sense to use the latest innovations if it helps a campaign deliver the best possible results.
However, firms that are planning to launch an email marketing strategy also need to consider plenty of other factors beyond ensuring people actually get the message.
They have to ask themselves precisely what it is they want to achieve by engaging with people in this way.
And it is also worth bearing in mind that if recipients of an email do actually bother to open it, they can easily delete it in just one click. This means the sender needs to devote time and resources to ensuring messages grab people's attention straight away.
If money is going towards actually setting up the campaign in the first place, it ultimately pays to make sure they are positively received and achieve the desired outcomes.
"Those who still compensate for relevance with volume by batching and blasting have found the results have ebbed, deliverability has dropped and list growth is slowing," Ms Taylor of Econsultancy remarked.
Email marketing campaigns have delivered successful results for organizations in all sorts of fields, so if it is properly run and supported by a good technical infrastructure, there is no reason it cannot do the same for your business.
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