In my most recent Ad Metrics column , I pointed out research showing that 89 percent of all users who click on ads do so for reasons of product interest. If you can find customers who are strongly interested in your products, then you're halfway there. If you can get them to consciously, voluntarily sign up to receive automated e-mails, then you're home free. The key is to sincerely put yourself in the shoes of the customer. As I wrote in my last column, three-fourths of Internet users do not have a positive attitude toward Internet advertising in general.
Internet users are a disproportionately well-educated, savvy crowd.
They see through pitches easily. But, if you're serving their interests, then your e-mail will be a welcome visitor in the customer's mailbox. I'm living proof. Subtlety is the order of the day. A customer on a health site wants information about how to stay healthy, not sales pitches.