Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

IMHO, the key words to your question are "interactive" and "communication." And again IMHO, e-mail marketing is far from dead.

The words "interactive" and "communication" are important to your question, because I believe that the days of simply sending out one standard message to all of your clients, customers, or prospects should soon be behind most marketers, the exceptions being those who are very new to the medium or who have very small lists.

Given the ease with which dynamic content can be created in e-mail communications, there's really no excuse for not providing at least *some* customization and personalization to each message. Your database should have at least a few data points that can be used to help your message speak more personally to the recipient.

With respect to the word "communication," I am amazed at how many messages I see each month with a warning that goes something like this: "Do not reply to this e-mail. This is a send-only account. Replies are not monitored."

Well, doesn't that sort of defeat the whole purpose of e-mail? Isn't is sad to think that someone could write back, "Have a sales rep call me ASAP!" and that message would go into a black hole?

Having said that, I do think that e-mail marketing has a much greater likelihood of succeeding and providing a solid ROI for conversion and retention as opposed to acquisition. The greatest cost in an acquisition program remains the media cost (that is, the renting of the list), so it's much easier to make the numbers work when you have a house-list as opposed to a third-party list.

Even though consumer lists cost less than B2B lists, we generally see that the response rates are so low that it's hard to make it cost-effective. A recognizable brand name can make a big difference here, though. On the B2B side, list quality gets better each month, but the costs remain high (we usually see CPMs between $300 and $500), so you need to know what you max spend is for lead generation and customer acquisitions (numbers that, incredibly, most of my B2B prospects don't know).

So, getting to the punch-line, e-mail marketing is far from dead. As e-mail marketers get smarter about making better use of their data and as deliverability issues continue to be addressed, the channel will continue to be successful and viable for those willing to put the time, energy, and resources into making it work.

My $0.02, overvalued even at that price.

Paul Broni

Hi MickThomas,

All great responses above.

Q: Has the life of interactive email marketing and communication passed in the United States?

A: Not even close. From everything I hear, read, see, and experience everyday, it hasn't even "crossed the chasm".

You also need to look at technology like RSS/XML/Atom, which are all forms of email, and see that they have not even gone past the "early adopter" stage.

Blogs are just now developing commercially applicable advertising models and this promises to be explosive.

Lots of room to grow here.

Q: Or does it possess some extraordinary longevity that will surpass normal expectations of technology fads?

A: Interactive email marketing and communication is not a technology fad. It is way too entrenched to be considered as one.

It is the most cost-effective, synergistic, sensible, and really the only measurable way to market and communicate.

My question is why would a company not want to do it?