Email marketing is the use of email by a business or person to promote a product or service. Many people on the receiving end find email marketing to be extremely annoying, but business owners have found using email to market their goods and services has many advantages over other methods of marketing.

Email marketing can be so subtle that many receivers would not even be bothered by the advertisement. For example, you can set up an email signature to include a quick link to a website with a one line reference to what they can find on the site. This allows you to get your product in front of as many people as you send emails to, but without being overly pushy.

One major advantage of email marketing over other forms of advertising is the affordability. Sending email is free, although that may change in the future, and once you've mastered the art of list building (obtaining email addresses from which you can send out your newsletters, emails, and marketing campaigns to), you have very little cost involved in the advertising campaign.

Many advertisers have found email marketing to offer a high response rate. This is because, unlike television, radio, or newspaper advertisements, an email advertisement can contain a clickable link that will take an interested viewer directly to the web page to read more about the product, and hopefully make a purchase.

If you are new to promoting products via email marketing, there are a few things you'll want to be careful of. With the SPAM laws, you want to be sure that you are not sending unsolicited emails to people, as they can report you and cause all kinds of trouble for your business. This is why learning about list building is extremely important to people wanting to use email marketing as their primary source of advertising. When you build a list of email addresses, you do so using the emails of people who have somehow indicated their interest in receiving your emails. Always include a way for people to remove themselves from your email list.

When you are just starting with an email marketing campaign, you can do so simply by setting up your email signature to indicate the product you offer and a link to a website to learn more and make a purchase. This signature line will go out with every single email you send, and is often included when other people forward emails to their friends and family, as well. It's a little like viral marketing- it just sort of spreads! When you are just starting out, you might want to purchase an email list from a reputable company that can find "targeted" leads; email addresses of people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Email marketing is not as complicated as you might think. With a little practice, you can start list building and effectively promoting products cost effectively with the use of email marketing.