Electronic communication is now the accepted norm. There is a constant drive to reduce paper output and "dematerialize" documents into electronic forms that can be emailed or saved in a web portal. For most companies, the most cost effective electronic communication channel is email.

However, the challenges in communicating electronically with a large client base arise with the collection, maintenance and upkeep of customers' email address data. The first challenge arises when companies realise that they don't have an up to-date record of all their customers' personal details. Furthermore, these details change over time, particularly email addresses, resulting in emails that bounce.

The purpose behind an email collection campaign is to obtain a customer's valid and usable email address, along with permission to use it. A successful email collection campaign can be carrid out for any company that has a client database and wants to distribute some form of electronic communication.