Opt-in e-mail campaigns are gaining share of marketing budget

Opt-in or permission-based e-mail campaigns are winning a strong share of marketing budgets, as overall spending on e-mail marketing campaigns continues on a growth curve expected to reach more than $6 billion by 2006, Terry Hemphill, senior product marketing manager for e-marketing services firm Captaris MediaLinq Services, tells InternetRetailer.com.

"It has a high interest for marketers," Hemphill. Captaris MediaLinq Services, San Francisco, recently studied marketing practices by retail, financial services, high technology and publishing companies. They were found to be spending about 10% of their budgets on permission-based e-mail campaigns. “That’s a considerable amount," he says. Such campaigns typically elicit interest among targeted customers in receiving a regular e-mail newsletter, which can provide product information and links to a company’s web site.

Hemphill cautions that, to be effective at signing up recipients, opt-in e-mail campaigns should provide a clear assurance that recipients’ e-mail addresses and any other personal information will not be sold to other marketing organizations.