In simple terms, Email Marketing also called Direct Mail Marketing or Bulk Email Marketing means sending emails to potential and existing customers about details of new and existing products and services. The extensive use of email marketing services to advertise on the Internet is for everyone to see. The number of emails sent out with the purpose of marketing is close to billions. At the same time the consumer's inbox is overflowing with private, commercial, business and spam email. Hence, email marketing can serve its purpose only when it stands out among the crowd of other mails and manages to catch the eyes of the target audience.

Every online and quite a few offline businesses are resorting to bulk email marketing solutions because of its cost effectiveness and reach. Advertisers think that once a mail reaches a consumer's inbox, it is natural that he will read it. But that may not be the case at all. Because of a flood of such emails, consumers do not know what to read and might ignore or delete them. The other aspect is that mostly such mails get classified as spam and hence escape the eyes of the target audience.

The important question here is that, is the mail actually reaching the target audience? The first step to email marketing is that the online company should clearly identify the target audience and then prepare a comprehensive mailing list, first of existing customers if any, and then of the prospective customers that constitute a part of the target audience. This will ensure that the email goes only to the right people. This step will also ensure that the emails are resulting in sale of products and services, since it is going only to those people who would be genuinely interested in them.

It is advisable to ask permission from the people before marketing to them. There is no point in flooding the inbox of a person who is not responding or who has not subscribed for their services, seeking permission to initiate direct mail marketing will also display the advertiser's respect for his customers. Secondly, it is important to plan the direct mail marketing campaign with care with emphasis given to detailing of the content, design and web pages that are sent to the consumer. Consistently delivering value is another key to keep the customers subscribed.

For bulk email marketing to be successful it is important to connect with the subscriber and form a relationship with him. It is advisable not to follow the crowd and dare to be different. All these factors will add the much needed uniqueness to the email marketing campaign that will catch the customer's eye and sustain his attention.