How to maximize ROI with e-marketing tools.(selected topic)(Return on investment)

How does your company measure the results of its marketing ventures? If your efforts include a newsletter, you know the value of providing customers or clients with information they need. A focused newsletter is a tool many companies use to market their services and maintain communication throughout the year.

But how do you know if your customers or clients are actually reading it? That's a tough question when talking about a print newsletter, which may get thrown away unopened. But with an e-newsletter, technology exists that allows you to track read-rates, as well as other important metrics, and provide readers with the most recent information available. With that data, you can generate new business leads and increase revenues from existing clients. Business solutions, such as e-newsletters, allow firms to grow their business, manage B2B and customer relations and capitalize on untapped marketing sources.

There are a number of factors to consider when enhancing an e-marketing campaign using tools like e-newsletters. For example:

Branding: An excellent way to gain brand recognition is to regularly keep your firm's name in front of customers or clients and prospects. An e-newsletter with interesting articles can provide that level of contact. Typically, print newsletters are published quarterly. Look for the opportunity with an e-newsletter to go out as frequently as every week, which reinforces your brand image.

Short lead-time: Print newsletters can require several weeks to put together, print and mail. By the time they reach their destination, there's not much news in them. By comparison, an e-newsletter can be prepared, formatted and updated right up to the moment it is sent, allowing for the inclusion of late-breaking developments.

Time savings: Do you know how long it takes, beginning to end, to put together and distribute your newsletter? Chances are the time is considerable. With an e-newsletter, the production and distribution time is slashed because many steps are eliminated. There is no need to juggle the copy to fit into the available space, and you don't have to deal with printers or mail delays.

Two-way communication: The best e-newsletters allow readers to request services, provide feedback and ask questions. By allowing readers to interact through two-way communication, you have the chance to build relationships with clients, as well as begin new associations with prospects and referral sources.