21 Dec
Is E-mail marketing dead? With the emergence of social networking services, many would argue that it is dead indeed, but is it really? This makes me wonder if this forum was ever useful for sending direct mail messages.
The truth is that e-mail marketing has always provided a positive ROI when used properly. The problem begins when you start crafting e-mails with little or no useful information for your recipients. Before you write an e-mail marketing piece, you should ask yourself a few questions.
- Who do I want to read this?
- Why do I want them to read it and will they care about the information presented?
- Am I providing anything of use to the reader or am I merely ranting about my product or community?
- Is there a call to action within the e-mail?
You would be surprised at how many e-mail marketers fail to consider these questions.
It is important to remember how most individuals regard their e-mail inbox. Do you like junk mail? Do you like solicitors calling you? Odds are you don’t and neither does your e-mail recipient. Most of us hate junk mail and can’t stand a cluttered inbox full of spam.
I would base my e-mail marketing strategy around the idea of utility. What do you have to offer your e-mail recipients? If you have nothing to offer, then you cant expect your audience to open or read your e-mail. If your messages become consistently useless, you might find your subscriber numbers dwindling or your messages might be flagged as spam and recipients may never lay there eyes on it.
What about social media?
Is social media killing e-mail marketing and its every day use? It is hard to say right now, but I would say no. From my observations, social media isn’t as personable as e-mail yet. That’s not to say that it wont be one day, but that for right now, e-mail still has its place. I don’t buy Twitter as an e-mail replacement. You can’t really do much with only 140 characters.
I think e-mail still has its place and that means that e-mail marketing does as well. A carefully crafted piece with photography and a message that shows how the buyer will live in the community will be successful. A piece touted the attributes of your community will not. The message needs to engage the reader and speak to them about their interest. Remember to always think of who you are communicating with when developing a marketing plan of any sorts, not just e-mailing.