I received an email the other day from a company offering a discount on an activity day. The email was well written and the offer was very interesting, and as I am planning one this year, I was happy to receive it.

The email was sent manually, probably from Microsoft Outlook. How did I know? and why was that a problem?

To, CC, Bcc

I knew because the email "to" line contained all of the email recipients- approx 200 of them. The sender had forgotten the number one rule of sending to a mailing list-- Always use the BCC line.

There was another give away even if they had used the Bcc line- The email wasn't personalised!Meaning it wasn't specifically addressed to me.

Both of these problems arise often when using mailing lists in email programs like Outlook, Outlook Express etc.Although these programs support distribution lists or groups they simply weren't designed for email marketing.

The of these email clients should be limited to very small lists only and for larger lists you should consider using an autoresponder.

Autoresponders/Automatic Responders

Autoresponders are specifically designed for automating email and for mass or bulk mailing. If you have a database of customers or are looking to build one they should be the first tool on you list.

A professional autoresponder :

Eliminates Common Mistakes- like not including your full contact address Ensures Compliance - Ensures that any email you send follows various Spam and Good Practise guidelines. List Management- Provides the ability to automatically manage your lists including automatic subscribes and unsubscribes etc Tracking- provides tracking reports that enable you to determine the success of your email marketing campaigns. So what types are available you can find in the autoresponder guide.