Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on July 14, 2003
More "email marketing is dead" commentary
At the risk of repeating myself (and the obvious), here's a short contribution I wrote for the folks at the I-Sales discussion list...
The killer app is dead, long live the killer app!
There's a seeming paradox in the email world.
One the one hand, there are numerous individuals and organizations preaching (often based on experience) the "email marketing no longer works" message.
On the other hand, there are still plenty of companies enjoying notable success with permission-based email marketing campaigns.
There's no denying that filters, blacklists, spam etc. make the marketer's job *much* more difficult. But what that's doing is forcing people to be much more innovative and diligent in how they use email.
So people are giving overdue attention to email headers, permission issues, sign-up procedures (for example, persuading people to part with "real" rather than throwaway addresses), copy, offer, content, value, voice and all the other things that constitute best practices.
Then they're also moving ahead with things like personalization, segmentation, customization, viral techniques, and more.
All of which can compensate for the logistical and other problems email marketers face today.
But all of which also means that the playing field shifts in favor of marketers with the resources needed to master and implement these kinds of advanced and best practices.
Having said that, the time still seems ripe for some alternatives to step up to the plate. Blogs? RSS feeds?
At the risk of repeating myself (and the obvious), here's a short contribution I wrote for the folks at the I-Sales discussion list...
The killer app is dead, long live the killer app!
There's a seeming paradox in the email world.
One the one hand, there are numerous individuals and organizations preaching (often based on experience) the "email marketing no longer works" message.
On the other hand, there are still plenty of companies enjoying notable success with permission-based email marketing campaigns.
There's no denying that filters, blacklists, spam etc. make the marketer's job *much* more difficult. But what that's doing is forcing people to be much more innovative and diligent in how they use email.
So people are giving overdue attention to email headers, permission issues, sign-up procedures (for example, persuading people to part with "real" rather than throwaway addresses), copy, offer, content, value, voice and all the other things that constitute best practices.
Then they're also moving ahead with things like personalization, segmentation, customization, viral techniques, and more.
All of which can compensate for the logistical and other problems email marketers face today.
But all of which also means that the playing field shifts in favor of marketers with the resources needed to master and implement these kinds of advanced and best practices.
Having said that, the time still seems ripe for some alternatives to step up to the plate. Blogs? RSS feeds?
[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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