Legal and legitimate use of email advertising involves the use of opt-in email lists. Harvesting emails from the visitors to a site will usually produce the most effective email lists. However this can take years to achieve and this fact alone can greatly hinder the progress and success of an online enterprise.

Secondly the volumes of spam messages on the web is so high these days that it becomes difficult for recipients of messages to tell the difference between genuine mail that they have requested to receive and spam. This greatly hinders the effectiveness of email advertising.

The good news is that the advantages of email advertising are numerous and far outweigh the few disadvantages.

For starters it is extremely cheap. Companies and businesses are able to send out email messages to literally millions of clients and prospects who have opted to receive their messages at a cost that is close to zero. Then it is instant, recipients are able to receive the message and respond instantly. This is in sharp contrast to snail mail, which usually takes days to arrive and it will often cost a bundle to mail a simple message to a few thousand individuals.

In sending out email messages to your targeted market, you are more likely to reach only those who are needing your services, solutions or products without bothering those who do not. You can select each one of your targets based on geography, age, income, spends, and many other parameters. The interactiveness of email advertising allows you to initiate campaigns using whatever sales pitch you like, that will be of interest to your prospect and grab their attention and interest immediately. It is extremely beneficial that most internet marketing companies offer prepackaged and custom-built lists to suit your campaign..

Email advertising is also very easy to track. Within a few hours of sending out a message, the marketer can tell how successful their marketing campaign has been by simply counting the click through or hits the target web site has received. This dramatically increases the chances of success because a faulty strategy can quickly be rectified and adjusted or a marketer can even quickly go back to the drawing boards and create a totally new plan to avert what would usually be a disaster in the offline world.

While highly personable email advertising enables you to personalize and greet every person you target. This helps in creating a special bond with the prospects and allows you to build customer and reseller loyalty and acquire new customers.

In conclusion, while email advertising may have few disadvantages, the good out weigh those. By allowing you to write personalized, effective opt-in email messages, and distibuting to targeted prospects, result in a higher profits from your targeted web site.