What's the best method to perform e-mail marketing?

The best solution is to go with an ESP, like VerticalResponse.

The problem with sending through a Gmail account is that your messages may be marked as spam and not be delivered to recipients’ inboxes. ESPs have established relationships with email providers and are on their white lists, guaranteeing your mail will go through.

I’ve used Campaign Monitor for a recent client. Really cool, and easy to use. I would also suggest avoiding the Gmail account.

What do you guys think of iContact.com?

Also, anyone ever use constantcontact.com?

Mmm, they look alright. My recommendation still sticks with Campaign Monitor. They’re very well known and respected.

I worked for a company that used Constant Contact. They’re incredibly anti-spam, to the point that if more than a certain percentage of people complain about getting the message, they’ll cut you off. That alone makes them worthwhile in my book.

To be perfectly frank with you all, I was just informed that the email list will consist of 50k+ recipients, and the list will be purchased from an online company. Thanks for helping!

Emailing people who opt-in to receive messages from your company is legit, but emailing random people on a purchased list is spam.

You should explain this to your boss. Don’t be complicit in spam. Please!

@lawdaddy: I’d say no to that, even if it meant getting fired over it.

@lawdaddy That’s not cool.

@pam1120 You’re hilarious. You’re talking about how bad spam is for ethical reasons, and manage to slip some spam into your answer.

It is extremely important to build your own email marketing list – as it is a true asset as far as internet marketing goes. It is something that you own and can control. This list needs to be opt-in, while double opt-in is becoming the industry standard, ie, having the subscriber confirm via email as well as enter info into a form, site, etc.

When choosing a solution to manage your list, it is best to make sure that it will allow both plain-text and html format. In addition, customizable templates for signup forms, confirmation pages and welcome emails can be helpful to ensure consistent branding with the entire process.

There are a ton of email solutions available, many do-it-yourself and other all inclusive solutions. Based solely on my personal experience and research I would recommend the company “MailChimp.” You are able to start using their service for free while still maintaining a 500 subscriber limit, and you can easily scale your package as you grow your list.

You will be able to define a reply-to email address and a sending email address for each of your campaigns, where you can put your gmail account so that customers know where to reply back to.

Regardless of what company you choose, try to find some companies that allows a trial or free period to test their software to make sure whoever is going to be managing the list is comfortable with the software or interface before committing.

E-mail marketing can accomplish a wide target audience in a short interval of time as well as allows subscribers to immediately respond on email.
Here are some steps to effective email marketing.
Step 1: Merging Your Names
Step 2: Develop Your List of E mail Addresses
Step 3: Build Your Email Marketing campaign Mix
Step 4: Publish Your E-mails
Step 5: Select Your Recipients
Step 6: Send Your E mail Blast
Step 7: Process Bounced Emails
Step 8: Pursue Up
Step 9: Polish and Replicate.