Customers should receive only 'relevant' marketing emails

When sending out marketing information, customers should ideally only receive emails which are relevant to them, it has been claimed.

Linus Gregoriadis, the head of research for E-consultancy, a firm specialising in e-marketing and online commerce, believes that should marketing departments send irrelevant emails, customers may either unsubscribe or simply psychologically switch off.

Even worse, Mr Gregoriadis believes customers may go as far as to report the communication as spam.

"Spam is unsolicited 'junk' email sent in bulk…companies should not email anyone who has not expressly given their permission to receive electronic communication," said Mr Gregoriadis.

"It is foolhardy for a company to send out spam emails because it is illegal and also because it is damaging for a brand to be associated with this practice."

In related news, Business Link has described email-based direct marketing as a very cost efficient form of advertising.