Email Marketing Is Dead, Long Live Email Marketing

Is Email Dead or Alive?
So I keep hearing email is dead. That spam killed it. And while, despite trying to run by opening new email accounts, spam keeps finding me and hunting me down while it breeds like bacteria, I don’t believe that email is dead. I just read an article in Revenue Magazine called “Old Dog, New Tricks,” about how email is in fact alive and kicking. It says that Web 2.0 is breathing new life into email campaigns.

The article says that according to Datran Media’s December 2006 annual email study, 83.2% of those surveyed chose email marketing as their primary marketing strategy for 2007. That says a lot. It says that business people are getting sales out of email campaigns, so how could email be dead?

A Mature Medium Undergoing Change
Email has definitely evolved in the 10 years it’s been around. Now the focus is on user generated content (UGC). Rather than pummeling subscribers with sales messages, more businesses are offering content from customers, which creates a better tie between company and subscriber. Businesses are also using email to promote their blogs, RSS feeds and videos. The less like advertising it looks, the better received it is. And if readers enjoy the emails, they’ll always come back and become customers.

How to Make the Most of it
I think email is a great tool, if used right. I put out a newsletter for Egg Marketing once a month (subscribe to it!) that has some of my better articles from this blog as well as news about what’s going on with the company. If I or the company has been involved in something noteworthy (i.e. my becoming an SOB on Liz Strauss’ blog!) I’ll put that in there too. I’ll include a coupon at the bottom for my services, but overall the newsletter isn’t blatantly screaming “buy from me!” I am actually considering putting out more emails, because it seems the consensus has changed about how frequently to send out messages.

So what are the rules for making email work for your business? They’re simple, but good to review:

-Susan
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