Successful direct marketing is mostly about “information” and “dialog”. Certainly the best audience to use and maintain both of these is your existing customer base. And, there’s no better format than email marketing to do this. The reasons are pretty obvious. Existing customers:

• have an affinity with you/your company (they recognize who you are and the message you may be sending)
• like to hear from you (there is tremendous value to being top-of-mind)
• are responsive (they purchased from you in the past and are likely to purchase from you again)
• act as great referrals

I had a client just recently launch an email communications plan to their existing customer database centered around their Fast Rewards Loyalty program. The response was tremendous! Due to tracking and reporting, we quickly learned that customers want frequent reminders about points earned; they did not mind hearing from the company via email; they are responsive to email; want to have a dialog with the company and do not mind additional messaging to support important promotions, information, etc.

But don’t abuse emailing to your existing customers. The delete and opt-out options still exist and, if not careful, you will clearly know when you’ve crossed the line with overly promotional offers, too much or too little frequency, and/or non-engaging messages and calls-to-action.