The increasing popularity of social networking sites and other forms of communication, including text messaging and cell phone use, are beginning to impact the effectiveness of email marketing, according to a new report from JupiterResearch.

In the report, titled "The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools," researchers found emerging forms of communication are reducing the use of email.

Email marketing spending will grow from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $2.1 billion in 2012 according to a new JupiterResearch report, "US E-mail Marketing Forecast, 2007 to 2012."

Spending on retention email will more than double during that period and account for over half of total email marketing spending in 2012. Acquisition email marketing will grow more slowly, with most spending in that category going toward sponsorship (for example ad supported newsletters).

Email reputation service provider Habeas has partnered with eco, the whitelist provider in Germany and the Association of the German Internet industry.

Habeas identifies and certifies email marketers who comply with a set of standards and a code of conduct relevant to the European market. This reduces the time Internet Service Providers (ISPs) spend determining if the sender should be included on a whitelist.

The majority of email marketers (96%) include an unsubscribe function in their emails in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, according to a report from email firm Lyris.

More than 95 percent of email marketers measure their campaigns but many do use the results to support their budgeting goals, according to EmailStatCenter.com’s "State of Email Metrics," sponsored by Campaigner.

In 2005, email marketing returned $57.25 for every dollar spent. Last year it fell to $51.58. The U.S. Direct Marketing Association predicts email marketing return on investment (ROI) this year to be $48.56, the numbers show that marketers will spend about $500 million to achieve $23 billion in sales.

AOL ranks the lowest for email deliverability for marketers and Google’s Gmail is the best for deliverability according to a survey from Dot Email.

The Direct Marketing Association has announced it will merge its Email Marketing Council with the Email Experience Council in an effort to strengthen the multichannel marketing environment.

Email marketing campaigns need better landing pages according to a Silverpop study "8 Seconds to Capture Attention: Silverpop’s Landing Page Report."

Internet retailers who use email to reach customers could improve their sales by using segmented email lists, according to an Internet Retailer survey analyzed by Vovici.

Around 40 percent of respondents said their email efforts returned conversion rates of 2 percent or less.

A new study from Forrester Research, "Email Marketing Comes of Age" finds that 97 percent of consumers and 94 percent of marketers are using email. For marketers, consumers who embrace email are their most valuable customers.

Consumers who are fans of email spend more online, make impulsive purchases, are willing to pay for convenience and communicate with others about ads and emails they value.

There’s no doubt that email marketing has gotten a bum rap from abusive spammers. Several thoughts such as long prison sentences for wide scale spammers instantly come to mind in a vague jumble when this practice is mentioned.

Creating Bulk Email List

After you have set up your opt in list and started collecting leads you need to decide whether to use HTML or plain text for your follow up and broadcast messages.

Ten years ago I started my first online business venture out of the basement office of my home. I put together a Web site selling scrapbook products on my wife’s suggestion that scrapbooking was emerging as a hot niche in the crafting industry.

Marketing by email has grown into a science! No longer can we just throw a hastily written email to our prospects and expect results.

Here are ten “new rules” that are shaping effective ezine content today.

For B2B marketers e-mail marketing is one of the most successful tools for generating great results at the quickest possible time.

Your opt-in or business list is the most valuable asset to your business. Your subscribers have made a positive decision to voluntarily subscribe to your free newsletter.

Fruit trees provide a useful email marketing analogy. Like fruit trees, different types of customers need to be cultivated in different ways if they are to bear fruit.

Email marketing is far from dead, despite the fact it can be a challenge to build an opt-in list of email addresses.