Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Should We Change The Name Of This Category?

Posted by Ann H. on 3/29/2011 at 9:49 AM ET 250 Points
Hi all:

What does "E-Marketing" mean to you?

I'm wondering if it makes more sense to rename this category as Email Marketing, for a few reasons:

1. A number of questions here lately have been about Email Marketing, so it seems this category is already being used as such.

2. "E-marketing" doesn't really describe a whole lot... and "e-marketing" as a general catch-all seems to be not a great use of a category whether other more specific categories (like Social Media, SEO/SEM etc., are more narrowly defined).

Love your input here!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 3/29/2011 at 10:05 AM Accepted
    To me an our members, E-Marketing means Electronic Marketing, a main marketing category that other tactics would fall under like: email, Social Media, SEO/SEM, etc.
  • Posted by Ann H. on 3/29/2011 at 10:44 AM Author
    Thanks, John. Understood.

    I'm just wondering whether it's better to post questions in more precise categories, vs. a larger catch-all category.

    (Side note: The phrase "E-marketing" to me feels a little dated, like referring to online marketing as "cyber-marketing." : ) If we need a catch-all category, I'd probably call it "Digital Marketing" vs "E-marketing." What do you think?)
  • Posted by michael on 3/29/2011 at 11:02 AM Accepted
    Ann,

    I think the first and easiest step to take in e-marketing is email marketing. Since many questions here are from people taking that first step, the questions will naturally be in that direction.

    Good question/suggestion tho!

    Michael
  • Posted by Ann H. on 3/29/2011 at 11:09 AM Author
    Thank you, Michael. That was my instinct, too, but wanted to see if you all agreed, or saw something different.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 3/29/2011 at 12:24 PM Accepted
    To me, it cuts a wider swath than "Email Marketing" (which is just one tool in the toolbox). Looking through the last few months' worth of questions though, it's clear that most are email marketing, and those that aren't are in the wrong category. So, if that's what people want, making it easier to find/get information on this topic makes sense.
  • Posted on 3/29/2011 at 12:36 PM Accepted
    FWIW, E-Marketing (however dated the term) means more than Email Marketing. It includes search advertising, mobile marketing, and landing pages, for example.

    So I like the idea of updating and cleaning-up the topic headings, but I don't like the prospect of losing a broad category that covers topics of interest unless we're going to create a whole slew of other sub-topics at the top level.

    Your suggestion of "Digital Marketing" would probably accomplish the objective, and that could certainly include Email Marketing as a component, just as E-Marketing does today.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 3/29/2011 at 12:46 PM Accepted
    Ann, for me, e-marketing is direct marketing (or direct response marketing) via the internet. And since most of the direct marketing campaigns I have worked on include, email, telemarketing and sometimes even snail mail, the term email marketing would seem unfit as a category name.

    I suggest using "Direct Marketing" instead of e-marketing or email marketing. Direct Marketing is independent of specific media both in the present and the future.

    Steve
  • Posted by Ann H. on 3/29/2011 at 1:27 PM Author
    Thanks, all. Good point Steve in Email v. Direct.

    Perhaps we need a category that would suit both as Direct/Email Marketing, as well as categories for Mobile and Content. We have Search (SEO/SEM) already. We could also add others, if there's more specifics you'd like to see.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 3/29/2011 at 4:09 PM Member
    Maybe this deserves a research project collecting information on how others are organizing marketing categories. For example, marketingsherpa uses online and offline as major category headings with sub-categories. So ...

    Online Marketing -
    SEO/SEM
    Social Media
    Website Critique

    https://www.marketingsherpa.com/library.html

    Also, I tend to think in terms of integrated campaigns which of course makes modifying the current system very challenging. And lastly, how well our the questioners selecting appropriate categories now? How would this be quantified?

    Sorry for adding to the burden of category refinement :(

    Steve

  • Posted on 3/29/2011 at 4:57 PM Accepted
    I think the goal ought to be to "speak the language" of the people who come here to ask questions. The easier we make it for them to ask their questions, the more likely they are to ask and stick around for answers ... and perhaps become PRO members of MarketingProfs at some point, based on their satisfaction with the product.

    When we give them a long list of categories, I worry that we just confuse them. Right now there are 18 different categories. If someone shows up just to ask about a tagline, they have to scan a list that contains 17 other things to find that keyword. (And what if they aren't even familiar with the term "tagline?")

    And what's the benefit? How are we served by the categorization? What would be so different if there were, say, just 5 or 6 categories? Would it be any more difficult to respond? To search by keyword?

    I guess where this leads me is to fewer, broader categories, not more of them. I don't see how greater specificity helps us in this case.

    Maybe I'm missing something. Is there some SEO reason for the categories? What if there were NO categories at all? How would that affect the forum? What's the goal (other than to retire a dated terminology)?
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 3/29/2011 at 7:46 PM Accepted
    Dear Ann,

    Why not rename it online marketing?

    Gary Bloomer
    The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
    Princeton, NJ, USA
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on 3/29/2011 at 8:05 PM Member
    Thanks for the confirmation Gary. I'm thinking more like what Michael has to say. Less is more, keep it simple.

    For example as few as three -

    1. Online Marketing

    2. Offline Marketing

    3. Brand/Strategy

    (just for fun, student questions, our forum)???

  • Posted by Ann H. on 3/29/2011 at 8:26 PM Author
    Sheesh I wish there were a way to "Like" comments here.. LOL.

    Anyway -- part of the idea here is to more closely align MarketingProfs categories with Forum categories (as we are all in the same family). And always, I'm thinking from the reader's perspective -- since that's my job here at MarketingProfs more broadly (to align content with the reader; to meet the reader's needs). I started questioning e-marketing (back at the start of this thread) because I really wasn't sure what it meant. And I'm pretty steeped in marketing. So here we are.

    I'm not really looking to blow up the categories or do anything deeply involved here. (Those words "research project" scares the bejeezus out of me, Steve. ; ) )

    So I'm really just looking at the existing categories with an eye toward 2 things:

    1. making it easier for a new person here, as well as for existing members, to navigate the broad categories; and

    2. to look at existing categories and see if any of them need a dust, polish or shine.

    At this point, I'm inclined to add a few un-served categories (like Content and Mobile); add Direct/Email, retire E-Marketing, and perhaps add a catch-all like Digital Marketing or maybe just General Marketing, to cover everything else.

    Again, I'm not looking to redefine everything here... this is more about the "Tweak" than the "Overhaul."

    Thanks again for all your comments. I appreciate it.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 3/29/2011 at 9:47 PM Member
    Dear Ann,

    Hmm? Dust, polish, and shine. How about bury?

    Y'all might want to nuke the category "Book Club"
    because in it's received fewer than five posts since 2008.

    How about replacing it with "Direct Response Marketing"?
    Just a thought.

    Gary Bloomer
    The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
    Princeton, NJ, USA



  • Posted on 3/30/2011 at 6:54 PM Moderator
    Not sure it's worth the time or effort to dust, polish, shine. As long as we have more than a dozen different categories, it's not going to be truly user-friendly ... and nobody has really complained about what we have now (as far as we know).

    That said, if there's another agenda, or if someone thinks a dust/polish/shine at the KHE will help MarketingProfs in some way, then no harm done to spend some time/effort on this.
  • Posted by Ann H. on 4/9/2011 at 11:20 AM Author
    Thanks for all your feedback here, all. I appreciate it.
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