So what if it gets a high ROI?

Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on September 26, 2007

calculatorKevin Hillstrom takes us all to task for bigging up email marketing based on the returns on investment it generates compared to search marketing and other alternatives.

His (valid) point: it's easy to claim high ROI when your costs are low. But ROI shouldn't be your only measure of success.

On the other hand, the evidence collected by me and others to justify the value of email isn't just about ROI.

Anyway, Kevin isn't anti-email (quite the contrary, based on his previous posts), but he is pro making decisions based on objective interpretations of the numbers rather than loyalty to any one particular marketing channel. Can't argue with that.

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[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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2 Comments:

I am pro e-mail! I had the good fortune of managing a team that used targeting strategies to help grow e-mail marketing to a $200,000,000 per year program at Nordstrom.

When we did the ROI arguments or the sales per e-mail argument, few people paid attention.

When we added everything up and measured $200,000,000 per year across the online and retail channels, people paid attention --- probably to our detriment (because other marketers wanted to take more ownership of the e-mail program), but they paid attention.

E-mail will stand on its own as a viable marketing channel. We sometimes use the wrong metrics to make a case, when the best data is right there, in front of us.

These days, I work with my clients to shift the discussion on e-mail, trying hard to get it more credibility with business leaders. The total sales number and total profit dollars generated by e-mail make CEOs take notice, especially when they see how few people are working on e-mail programs to get those results.
By Blogger Kevin Hillstrom, on 27 September, 2007  
 

Thanks Kevin. I think ROI gets emphasized by the email world (mea culpa) because it looks so good! And maybe that has distracted us from other meaningful numbers that might be equally or more attractive to higher authorities.
By Blogger Mark Brownlow - Email Marketing Reports, on 27 September, 2007  
 

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