6. There is considerable controversy in today's world of direct marketing over the use of e-mail as a method of communication. What are some of the pros and cons of e-mail from the marketer's point of view? What are the pros and cons from the point of view of the consumer or businessperson? How could you deal with the consumer/ businessperson's concerns and implement a successful program using e-mail?

Creative Advantages - Immediate: messages arrive in the recipient's mailbox seconds or minutes after they are sent, and usually are dealt with relatively promptly on receipt. - Outstanding testing flexibility. Testing of lists, offers, sender names, subject lines, and creative approaches can be done very readily with very quick results. - Attractive, digital, and colorful HTML e-mails have largely replaced less appealing text formats. - Much lower cost than most any other medium, with the best return on investment of any medium ever invented (more than $25 for each dollar invested, per the Data \&Marketing Association). - Excellent for verification of orders, shipment alerts, and other customer service functions that normally are welcomed by buyers. - High penetration among literate, affluent customers both at home and at work. - Exceptional ability to customize e-mail delivery schedules and messages based on customer or prospect input and interests. Creative Disadvantages - The broad-brush connotation of "spam" has tarnished the image of e-mail as a promotional medium. - Potential for deletion of promotional e-mails, even among opted-in customers, is very high. - E-mail messages and delivery plans must be developed with great care since responsible e-mailers offer customers and prospects the opportunity to opt-out in response to any message. An annoying or poorly targeted message, or too-frequent communications, may have dire consequences for your e-mail list. - Even an HTML e-mail is quite limited in appropriate format and length. - Not as cost-effective as the phone for customer service purposes