By Meg Archer, SEM Specialist
Don’t Discount the Power of E-mail Campaigns in Your Marketing Strategy
In a marketer’s toolbox, e-mail is a powerful tool. Last year, some experts speculated that 2011 would be the year e-mail campaigns died. Boy, were they wrong. There have been a few changes in the way e-mail campaigns are created and executed, but e-mail marketing campaigns still provide strong, measurable results. Here at 90octane, for example, we continue to see success in the quality of the conversions created by our current e-mail programs.
According to ClickZ, email campaigns that are integrated with social and mobile media create a stronger message, thus allowing customers to participate in a conversation about your brand, via the media channel of their choice. Customers may reply to an e-mail via Facebook, LinkedIn, a corporate blog or Twitter. Today, the busy B2B subscriber expects e-mails to contain pertinent information that allows them to seek out and engage with your brand via other media channels. Embedding “share with your network” (SWYN) links to e-mails has become a best practice, and according to ClickZ, is a good first step. It is also important to develop a deeper relationship with your B2B customer by understanding the business goals that drive their needs, and incorporating them into e-mail messaging. This is a critical step, and one that could significantly impact your marketing program.
In the past, B2B e-mails were largely exempt from “permission requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act,” however, for email marketing in 2011, ClickZ recommends explicitly asking permission of recipients before adding them to your e-mail list. Without permission to add a recipient to an e-mail list, the customer could potentially be turned-off by your campaign and opt out of your list. The customer may even go so far as to spoil your brand reputation through social media channels by accusing you of using unsolicited marketing practices.
So in 2011, don’t discount the power of e-mail marketing, revamp your strategy. Integrate e-mail communications with social messaging and encourage your customer to converse with you and about your brand through a variety of media outlets. Also, don’t forget to make it clear when and how they opt-in to receiving future e-mails.
