I was in a meeting the other day and someone said that email marketing doesn’t work. I responded quickly that I disagreed and that if his personal experience wasn’t good it was because he was not doing it correctly. I regretted being so cocky in my response, but consider some of the information I had read earlier:
87% of consumers prefer email to communicate with companies, according to Merkle’s next yet-to-be-released “View from the Inbox” consumer survey. 66% spend 20 minutes each week with permission email. 20% say they’ve used SWYN to share an email with their friends and family on social networks. People who are active on social networks check their email more often. 44% check their email on their smart phone.
My experience is that most people treat email marketing like a printed newsletter at best and an advertisement at worst. Customers and prospects don’t mind at first, actually the first time or two you’ll get a great response. Quickly though, they get sent to the junk folder.
Email has to be approached and executed differently than every other form of marketing. It has to provide value and, the core of this value should be relational– they are getting to know you and your business in a more personal way.
Read through your last couple of email campaigns. Ask yourself a tough question: Would you really read it if you were on the receiving end? Then ask yourself this: What would my target audience want to read that would create a more personal relationship?
And if you are still skeptical of email please read the following snail mail horror story. A friend in the printing industry shared that a client had mailed 80,000 pieces and didn’t get a single response! It was obvious that the mailing got lost in mail (of course the post office won’t admit it) – $24,000 in postage, not to mention the printing and creative. A scary reminder – just because you send it in the mail is not any guarantee that it will end up in the hands of the addressee.
