Rumors about the death of email marketing have been greatly exaggerated — to borrow a Winston Churchill phrase.
Email marketing is alive and well. But you had better know what you are doing, or you will fail with it.
That seems to be the message from a recent MarketingSherpa report on the Top 4 Email Trends.
Here are the key trends they see, and what you need to do with them:
- Execution, Execution, Execution — The businesses that are getting good results are those that work hard at it. They test their techniques to see which ones work best, and they adapt their practices. Also, they segment their lists and tailor their messages. Sure this takes time and effort. No pain, no gain.
- Pictures Bring Better Results — The presence of an image in an email message, and where it is located, can have a major impact. Those using images intelligently tend to get better results.
- Readers Get Bored Quickly — The longer a name has been on an email list, the less likely you are to get a response from them. Smart emailers are sending out a “welcome series” of messages during the first 60 days, to take advantage of their readers short attention spans.
- Email Filters Wreak Havoc —Email filters continue to snag legitimate email messages, especially those going to work addresses. It requires considerable diligence to get around filters. The words you use, the quality of the HTML code — they make a difference.
I found this report interesting on a number of levels. It demonstrates just how much technology you need to know as a marketer or small business owner doing your own marketing today. Because success in email marketing comes mostly from knowing how to manipulate and use the technology.
The report is an executive summary of a much larger report. The executive summary is free and can be downloaded here: Executive Summary: 4 Key Email Marketing Alerts for 2006 (PDF).
