Email marketing is still one of the most under utilized and misunderstood marketing tools ever invented. Nearly every day, there are articles in business publications and websites that share misinformation and misleading information in regards to Email marketing.

Even with all of the technology and social media platforms in existence, Email still plays an important role and acts as a gateway to most if not all of the social media sites. Without an Email address, would-be users cannot gain access to certain sites or cannot use the full functions of sites.

Almost every transaction you make online requires that you share an Email address in order to complete your transaction. Whether your goal is to make a purchase or download free software, most website owners will require you to share your Email address with them.

Email is integrated into our lives. Its on our cell phones and most paper forms that we fill out these days. So, Email is not going any where any time soon. We’ll be using Email for a long time to come. There hasn’t been any technology to come along to replace it.

This gives businesses an advantage in that it Email still offers another medium or channel for them to reach their leads, prospects and customers.

This leads us to discussing how your business should be using Email in your day-to-day operations:

1) Lead Generation – There are almost no businesses that can’t use Email in some capacity to generate leads. For example, if your business is a house painting contractor, you could offer a free report titled something like “Top 3 Reasons Why You Should Have Your House Painted Every 7 Years.” And, the only way your prospect could get the report is by signing up via Email to receive the report. You could have the prospect either sign up via a form on your website or simply by sending an email to your Email Autoresponder account.

2) Lead, Prospect and Customer Follow Up – Studies have shown that it takes 7 to 12 follow up contacts to convert a lead or prospect into a sale. Whether that contact is done via phone, mail, fax, in-person or Email, the studies show that it will take up to 12 follow up contacts to make the sale. This is especially true for high ticket products and items. Proper Email follow up is an art and a science in one. If writing effective sales copy isn’t your expertise, it is much advised that you find a competent copy writer to follow up with your Email leads.

3) Cross Promoting – Getting your leads and prospects to sign up to your Email list can be difficult. So, if you’re going to go through the time, energy and effort to build an Email list, you might as well get the most from your Email list. One way to get a return on your investment from your efforts of building an Email list is by cross promoting products and services that are closely related to what the prospect originally signed up to receive. » Read more: 3 Ways You Should Be Using Email In Your Business