In 2011 email continues to be the most profitable, affordable and powerful tool to reach prospects and customers. It’s cheap, it’s easy and you are almost guaranteed a high return on investment.We’ve put together a list of some great reasons to use email marketing as part of your business’ online marketing strategy.It delivers a high Return on InvestmentAccording to the Melbourne IT eBiz reviews 2010, Australian SMBs’ top 3 areas of marketing spend outside of website maintenance were print advertising, brochures and email marketing. With a high ROI ($43.62 for every dollar spent), email marketing outperforms a number of other marketing channels such as print advertising, brochures etc. In Datran Media's 2010 Annual Marketing & Media Survey, 39.4% of industry executives said the advertising channel that performed strongest for them was email. This was the top result.It’s affordable and easy to implementWith email marketing, you can write targeted email messages, have them sent in minutes, and have a response within the day. It will cost you far less than traditional medium of communications and yet the return on investment could be exponential.Setting up an email marketing campaign is simple to do. All you need is an email account, an email template, a list of subscribers and you’re ready to send your first email campaigns.You’re talking to people who want to hear from you Because people have voluntarily subscribed to your email list, they are more receptive to your message than any other medium, including TV, radio and print. You can easily leverage your list to increase your sales, increase loyalty, referrals and brand awareness. Thanks to hyperlinks, your contacts are just a few clicks away from purchasing from your website.It’s much more than simply sending an emailOnce you’ve understood the basics of email marketing and how to build an email campaign, there's a whole spectrum of sophisticated tactics you can use to increase the performance of your campaigns. Today’s email marketing platforms include multiple features that enable you to create very targeted and optimal campaigns. To name a few:- A/B split testing allows you to test the performance of different email subject lines, different emails, different sender etc.- Reporting metrics enable you to track the results of each campaign you send and the areas you can improve to increase their performance.- Integrated web analytics show you what your subscribers did after they clicked through and enable you to better understand what triggers your subscribers’ actionIt allows you to segment your contactsWith the right email marketing software, it’s easy to segment your contacts in several distribution lists that make sense to your business. Segmentation allows you to send targeted emails to your clients. You can split your lists based multiple criteria such as product interests, location, age, gender etc. Another great way to improve the performance and conversion rates of your campaigns.Keeping in touch is the key to growing your businessChasing new customers is time-consuming and expensive. Retaining new customers easier and a good client relationship can significantly help you increase referrals. One of the best ways to retain your clients is to keep in touch. If you are not front of mind for your client, it is likely that your competitors might be.There are a number of approaches to engage your clients: regular newsletters that will help increase loyalty, sales email campaign that will help drive your sales etc. Each type of email communication has its own benefits. To achieve the best results with email marketing, it is important to put a strategy together that works for your unique business.Interested in email marketing? Why not trial our email marketing platform, Missile Mail, for free. Simply send an email to Chloe (chloe@bangdigital.com.au) to have your 30-day trial account setup.