Email advertising
has a number of distinct advantages, including its ability to reach thousands, even millions, of people in seconds. However, there are many factors that can make email advertising inefficient and even offensive to potential customers. For some companies, the disadvantages of email advertising can mean that the advertising message is lost to many of the targeted customers.
Spam
One of the major disadvantages of email marketing is that spam is a constant worry to many computer users. This makes them reluctant to give out their email addresses to get legal email advertising.
Filters
The fear of spam has also encouraged the use of spam filters, many of which will send legal email marketing messages into a spam folder.
List
Building a legitimate email marketing list takes time. It can take years to get thousands of subscribers who are willing to receive the email messages.
Legalities
Even if the subscribers ask for the messages, the resulting messages may be seen as spam when they arrive. Email marketers must keep records of their opt-in policies and must provide a clear way for subscribers to opt out.
Message
Once a list is built and the message is sent to a large number of potential customers, there is no guarantee that the message will be read. Many customers delete sales emails without reading them.
