Email Marketing is different than just sending an email to contact someone who filled out a form on the website. Email marketing, for example, can be in the form of opt-in newsletters or regular updates about products and services. One-time emails can be sent to email addresses of people who told other companies that they would like to hear about related products and offers can be purchased from “third parties”. Some email address may be available from partners, as well.
A visitor who fills out an information request on a website doesn’t necessarily opt-in to email newsletters. Often, they just want to get information about a specific product or service (such as when they download a product brochure), and they don’t want to be bothered with additional contact from our company unless they specifically request it. It is for this reason that it is suggested that you keep email marketing efforts separate than the efforts that used to contact visitors who filled out an information request. This doesn’t mean that you can’t ask people who filled out an information request on your website whether they would like to “opt-in” to receive email newsletters or updates about products and services on a regular basis. The most important factor, though, is that you must ask them whether or not they wish to be contacted on a regular basis via email, and you must provide them a way to “opt-out” of any additional contact. This is typically provided in a Privacy Policy, provided somewhere on the corporate website.
More detailed information about email marketing is discussed in my Email Marketing Strategy section.