The end of email marketing?

Hi there

Compared to sexy digital topics like blogs, social networking or gaming - talking about email marketing seems a bit like watching paint dry. Not very exciting.

Often first thing email marketing reminds us of is SPAM and the irrelevant hard-sell messages filling our inbox. In other words, the same old interruption marketing that is being left behind in favour of Web 2.0's conversational marketing.

But the fact is email marketing has been the backbone of digital and CRM programs for over 10 years. Email has enabled us to deliver customers requested content such as e-newsletters and product updates, tailored offers for particular customer segments, and where would our 'sexy' viral campaigns be without the ability to send our content to friends and colleagues via email.

So what is changing in the email world that has so many marketers asking if email marketing is dead?

A Tougher Environment

There are a few major developments influencing the negative perception of email marketing right now;

- Younger people (under 25) rarely use email: As highlighted in the Slate article The Death of Email, the growth of IM, twitter, SMS and blogging/micro-blogging means that the next generation of users think that email is too formal and too slow. And while some think that these younger users will change back when they get in to a work environment, I think they will bring these habits with them and that email will fundamentally need to evolve to suit them. Technology usage does not go backwards.

- Customers are harder to reach: Our inboxes are getting fuller, so our attention span for checking email shorter . That also means your more valuable customer segments are less likely to opt-in to your list, leaving it harder to find/build/maintain the right target databases. New opt-in laws, busier lives and more communication channels mean that it is harder than ever to reach customers. The ability of email to influence online/offline purchases has dropped up to 10% in the last year alone.

- Social media has changed the messaging environment: New survey results show 22% of email users said they are using social networking sites instead of email. The ability for more instant and open platform communication - something Twitter will become common for - makes email seem slow and 'not as connected'. As a result many people see social email , which allows recipients to easily share their emails in any environment, as a way of making email become more relevant for broader audiences.

- A tough economy impacts email marketing effectiveness: As pointed out in this article from ClickZ, tough times make it harder for email campaigns to work. That's because email is often cost effective so everyone wants to use it in a downturn, making it even more difficult to stand out. And in tough times people change jobs and contacts, so maintaining good data becomes even harder as well.

How Email Campaigns are Changing

Despite the challenges, fantastic email marketing campaigns like this from Career Builder and from Columbia Sportswear continue to be created and drive great sales returns. But as these examples show, email is evolving and integrating with other media and channels to be part of a much bigger picture. The era of 'spray and pray' is definitely over.

In this presentation from email service provider Silverpop, one of our regional marketing partners, they highlight the need for real change to how we create email campaigns moving forward. The key points are:

#1. Embrace customer power: Customers now expect to be able to choose to opt-in and determine when, where, what and how they read their mail. They dictate all of their preferences and get exactly what they want. Think of the external emails you regularly want and do read - from your airline, bank, telco provider, entertainment site or a trusted news source. Like these ones from travel provider Kayak. And think about how they link with all your other campaign and communication elements. This is the new price of entry for getting consumer attention.

#2. Focus on Converting Long Term Prospects: Most prospects are long term so build programs that reflect their needs throughout their life cycle and don't continually harass for sales at the wrong time. Sign people up, give them added benefits, always keep the option to buy open but consider their needs first. The growth of emails that have all the functionality of micro-sites reflect the trend of giving value before you can expect a return.

#3. Focus on relevance not frequency: Frequency is out, behaviour is in. Concentrate on giving people what they need based on their purchase behaviour, purchase life cycle, event triggers (birthday or purchase anniversary) and actual needs. Just emailing all customers all the time will kill off even your brand evangelists. The increasing elements of personalisation and customisation in emails is what will drive return and loyalty for email.

#4. Minimize list churn and inactives: Use welcome programs, create unsubscribe preference centers, implement re-engagement programs. Most of your email success comes from the right list and in a tough economic environment lists will change constantly. Give people a reason to keep engaged or come back on board.

#5. Design for multiple devices: Your emails are being viewed in a growing number of environments, via PC and mobile, and can be delivered via RSS as well. Are your emails iPhone and Blackberry friendly? Is the content compelling in these environments, and easy to read and use? The creative and production challenge now is to deliver the customer experience that renders well on multiple environments. Email campaigns specifically for smart phones like the iPhone are proving they can work well.

#6. Dive into the social world: If you look at the best social sites, they have enabled communication to become more layered, more open and faster. Perfect for friends and community. If you look at email it allows more detailed, and more trackable, and more formal communications. Perfect for most work environments. But as the two blend, shouldn't your email be able to connect seamlessly to your social network and visa versa?

It's early days but it's already starting to happen. Tools now allow marketers to place links within an email allowing recipients to easily post the message to their profile page on Facebook or MySpace, where friends can see the message, make comments and even post your email on their own profile pages.

Email is not dead, but it's undergoing a pretty radical upgrade. The exciting thing is that the email campaigns of today are looking a lot like other digital campaigns - more relevant, engaging, and yes, even sexier. But to produce these campaigns we need to understand social email, mobile email and integrated email fast - because everything else is going the way of the dinosaur.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com