But the fast-changing world of modern-day enterprise challenges marine companies to talk to their marketplace as never before.

Technology has made flying the traditional communications flag redundant. You should now consider flagging down customers electronically.

Successful companies understand that market share is paramount and it cannot be won, nor protected, without investing in marketing communications. This does not come cheap, and whilst nothing is inexpensive if it doesn't work, there is a needsmust desire to communicate as cost-effectively, which means as efficiently, as possible.

Digital marketing using electronic mailboxes is maturing fast. It is growing into a fully-fledged sales and information technique, but still young enough to turn heads.

The e-mail of the species is proving to be more deadly than the mail. Its strengths encompass tight targeting, speed of delivery, penetration of defences, accountability and low cost.

B2B e-mailing can bring a bonus: in most instances, you will bypass the letter-opener armed guard and land straight on your prospect's desktop.

Be sure, however, that the attraction of affordability does not mean that you rush in without taking heed of fundamentals. Mismanaged, this technique can be a danger to the company's entire image and credibility.

You must know whom you are addressing, talk benefits rather than features, interest or enthuse the readers, then invite them to be involved by looking at something further, such as a web site, or sending a reply (a purchase order would make an eminently suitable response).

Make sure you have mechanisms in place for gathering data, plus a means of measuring results.

There have been many surveys of e-mail marketing effectiveness. A recent report, resulting from research among leading marketing professionals in the UK, observed that 85% of respondents agreed with the statement that digital mail is more cost effective than the through-the-post alternative.

Less than 10% were prepared to say that conventional direct mail definitely remains more effective than the new electronic alternatives.

Worldwide, over one billion e-mails are sent every day.

Measurability - improved tracking and analysis - is a key strength of e-mail marketing.

That is at the end of the chain, of course. The starting point is the message, so back to basics.

We sell or else. Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you offer but knowing what to offer, to whom, when and at what price.

With those little niceties out of the way, the objective must be to break into the customer base and promise something that the competition cannot.

An effective message moves the recipient to action, then goes on to build a relationship that will reward all concerned.

Retaining a customer for further business is substantially cheaper than trying to break new ground every time.

More and more businesses are building their own banks of e-mail addresses. Boat shows, races and regattas, warranty registration forms and boughtin lists provide suitable opportunities to gather your own data.

Many publishing houses, trade and consumer, will rent out the e-mail details of their readers and traditional list brokers are rebuilding their databases to include e-mails.

Street addresses are decreasing in importance.

Whether you have your own list or use addresses from someone else, it is worth considering outsourcing the project to one of the specialist digital marketing houses, which are proliferating.

They have the skills and technology to convert your message to HTML format or set it out as plain text with "click through" capability, embed logos and other graphics as required, personalise the mailer, design so-called landing pages for customer responses, ensure pre-delivery authorisation and validation, bulk deliver at the best time (usually, office hours for business-to-business and evenings or weekends for business-to-consumer), collect the responses for you and provide a wealth of measurement data which should facilitate further marketing success.

If you are employing marketing services consultants, they can perform all of the front-end tasks and select the most appropriate fulfilment house for your campaigns.

E-mail is the fastest growing form of communication ever seen, focused and costeffective: it is emerging as a massive weapon in the marketing armoury.

It provides a hot connection between the offer and the prospect, then lays down foundations for building longterm relationships. It is bringing a whole new meaning to "flying the flag".

"Sunsail sends out a monthly e-news letter to an ever-increasing number of clients. Currently, over 20,000 receive the communication, known as e-scape, which gives details of the latest news from the company, last minute deals and general customer information. We launched e-scape last year and it has grown rapidly as more and more people log on to access it via Sunsail's web site, www.sunsail.com It is efficient, informative and right up to date and now forms one of our main marketing tools."

Alisdair Sewel, marketing manager, Sunsail Ltd

"As a company providing Internet based marketing solutions, e-mail has quickly become a way of life. We are able to communicate continuously with our clients in a targeted and cost efficient manner that is just not possible using conventional mail. Whether promoting new products and ideas, or responding to technical and sales enquiries, we can generate a comprehensive - and immediate - message or response, saving time and money for both par ties.

Our bi-weekly Featured Boat programme usually sells out within 24 hours of the e-shot being sent."

Ian Atkins, managing director, boats.com International