The new email marketing: the search for synergy
Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow
Part 9 of an ongoing series:(We're looking at the strategies and tactics that distinguish a smart email marketer from a bulk email marketer. See the New Email Marketing index page to access the rest of the series.)
There are no email marketers. But there are many marketers that use email to achieve their marketing goals. Email is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
Vendors and blogs like the one you're reading favor email. And their counterparts in search marketing, social media, radio advertising etc. favor whatever they happen to be selling or covering.
But the new "email" marketing has no false loyalty to email. Or to any other kind of marketing. Instead, it simply asks what combination of marketing channels is the most efficient and effective way to reach the target audience?
Fortunately (for you, me and those vendors), email is well-suited to playing a significant role in that marketing mix, especially when integrated intelligently with other channels.
The new email marketing seeks synergies with these other channels and with other parts of the business. And these synergies arise when you tackle these four questions:
- How can email contribute to the success of our other marketing and business endeavors?
- How can other marketing and business endeavors contribute to the success of our emails?
- How can other emails sent by the business contribute to email marketing success?
- What successful attributes of other marketing techniques can we apply to our emails?
Those intimidated by the apparent complexity of this kind of integration should take heart and begin small. Here some recent examples:
- Michael Gorman suggests using an email to identify those interested in a particular offer (i.e. those who clicked on relevant links) and then follow up using direct mail. Here email acts as a kind of filter to ensure your direct mail endeavors are more targeted.
- Sally Lowery has some tips on integrating search marketing with email.
- Stephanie Miller reminds us of the value in providing email sign-up opportunities at every point of interaction between your business and the customer or prospect.
- Cheryle Ross has some easy-to-implement ideas on coordinating email efforts across the business (see here for more on that topic)
As Anna Billstrom notes, social networks don't kill email, but perhaps they change the ways we might use email for marketing...shifting to better use of transactional email and fewer self-serving promotional blasts.
If we look at social media in the context of the questions listed above, it's easy to see why there's no need for email or social network evangelists to be defensive...
How does social media help email?
Answer: Aaron Kahlow suggests embedding social media elements (like videos) in your email campaigns. And Stephanie Miller has several ideas on how social media campaigns can lead to more use of email and more email subscribers.
How does email help social media?
Answer: Email marketing began many years ago with the premise that you could reach people after they left your website and encourage them to come back. That concept hasn't changed. Social networks, forums, blogs etc. all sit on the Web. And you can use email to drive traffic there, as Janine Popick reminds us.
What attributes of social media can email borrow?
Answer: Marc Kline comes up with some ideas in his look at social networking tactics for email marketers. And you'll find more suggestions referenced in an earlier post.
Tags: email marketing, social media, social networks, email integration, marketing integration
Permalink | June 24, 2008 |
0 comment(s)
Get posts like this: as an RSS feed | biweekly email | via Twitter
Get posts like this: as an RSS feed | biweekly email | via Twitter
0 Comments:
Comments closed for this post
