Email marketing software has long been praised for its ability to help businesses keep in contact with customers, boost their brand, and drive traffic to their website, store or event. But many online retailers (or etailers) are rapidly discovering that eCoupons are the hidden gem of email marketing. With ferocious competition for the consumer's spending dollar, eCoupons let both small and large retailers harness the power of email marketing software to directly drive increased purchases and sales from their customer base.

If you walk around any shopping mall you will see countless window signs touting "Big Sales", "Inventory Clearance", "Reduced Prices" and more. The behemoth retailer, Wal-Mart, has had great success with their "price rollback" marketing campaign. All of this continually proves that, in terms of consumer psychology, people love any form of savings and any chance at a good deal. But, why should the announcements of sales or price savings be limited to the offline world, when the online economy is bursting with just as many stores?

Many online retailers have asked that exact question and come to the conclusion that it is absolutely silly to leave sound marketing strategy at the door as soon as you move into the online realm. If special promotions can drive foot-traffic, then they can surely drive internet traffic as well. Many online retailers have started using email marketing software to bridge the gap, so they can start running online promotions similar to those of even their largest competitors.

Since email marketing software is very easy to use and incredibly affordable, it levels the playing field between small and large online retailers. Needless to say, an online company like Amazon has a marketing budget that vastly exceeds that of the smaller etailer. But that doesn't mean smaller retailers can't run strategic promotions to rival those of their larger counterparts. With the right email marketing software any small online retailer can execute a professionally designed email marketing campaign with just a few clicks of the mouse at a cost of less than a penny per target. There are no ridiculous restrictions or excessive lead times required, as the businessperson is only limited by his or her strategic prowess.

A great benefit of using email marketing software to distribute ecoupons and other promotions is that everything is completely measurable. After all, if you can't measure the success of something, then how can you know it was effective at all? Unlike traditional paper coupons that are costly to track, most good email marketing software programs will give you free real-time reports on how your campaign is running. Imagine being able to see, within seconds of sending your email, how many people have opened it or clicked on a link to redeem your coupon? With this information at your fingertips, you can learn and improve upon future email marketing campaigns. Maybe some eCoupons work better than others, or maybe sending your promotion at a certain time of the day produces better results (most email marketing software solutions will let you choose the exact date and time to launch your email). One thing is for sure, in a day and age where knowledge is power, knowing what eCoupons produce the greatest ROI will let you maximize each promotional dollar you spend.

With more and more businesses beginning to send out eCoupons and online promotions each day, it's increasingly important for all online retailers to begin building their customer email databases so that they don't fall too far behind. The sooner you employ email marketing software as part of your marketing mix, the sooner you will be able to level the playing field and see how eCoupons can benefit your business.