Melon Corporate Blog
Email Marketing & The “All New” Online Marketing Mix
This year Google turned 10 (there is a fascinating timeline of Google’s evolution here.
10 years is a long time in digital marketing - probably the equivalent of 100 years in the analogue world.
If we consider the toolset that the online marketer had at their disposal 10 years ago it would include:
• Banner adverts
• Websites
• Email newsletters
• Search engine optimisation (emerging and cutting edge)
If you review the online toolset that marketers today have access to the list would include the following:
• Banner adverts
• Websites
• Microsites
• Email newsletters
• Targeted landing pages
• Search engine optimisation
• Search engine marketing
• Blogs
• Microblogs
• Podcasts
• Video casts
• Live streaming - Audio & Video
• Affiliate marketing
• Web 2.0/ social media strategies (Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, Forums, Social Bookmarking, Wikis etc)
• Mobile content
• Marketing by SMS
• Mobile marketing via Bluetooth
• Online PR
• Syndicated content & RSS
• Widget/tool/application development including Facebook applications
• Virtual world presence
Quite a list isn't it? And I probably have even left out a few.
So - in this fast evolving digital environment where does your email newsletter and email marketing strategy fit in?
Well firstly, email remains the "power app" (a core and useful feature) of the Internet and along with the web is the one technology that is used by every internet user.
On my recent trip to the centre of the Internet universe (also known as Silicon Valley) I regularly bumped into people who weren't on Facebook.
So a lot of the above marketing technologies are still relatively niche and specialised when considered in relation to email and the web.
Furthermore a lot of the new marketing platforms may not stand the test of time and have an element of "fashion" to them.
Secondly a lot of the new online marketing strategies are tied into email in some way. For example Twitter notifies you by email when someone starts following you.
The inbox remains the locus of the entire online experience.
Thirdly email marketing tools have evolved to make it easier to construct smarter and more targeted campaigns - targeting a relevant segment of your database consistently comes through in the research as an important element to increase response rates.
The catch?
Online users today are smarter and more sophisticated then ever.
Their expectations of the online experience have also moved on from 10 years ago and peoples' inboxes are under a LOT more strain.
Your email newsletters therefore need to be smart and fresh, the content needs to be relevant and objective, and the "basics" (professional campaign, opt in and opt out process seamless etc) need to be impeccable.
I regularly receive email newsletters from small and large companies with broken images, broken links, opt out processes that don't work, non visible content, 100% sales content and so on.
In this digital environment of 2008 badly executed campaigns do more damage than having no campaign at all.
The online marketing mix will continue to evolve and be influenced by trends and fashions.
Some of the new online marketing environments will wither and others will mature into core marketing applications.
It is significant that email marketing has stood the test of time and has been providing positive returns and deepening relationships for over 10 years.
A professional email newsletter campaign together with an effective website remains an extremely important anchor around which to build your broader online marketing strategy.
The new online marketing environment is evolving at the speed of bits and bytes and can be a confusing place for even the most agile of marketers.
The online marketer however should remain focussed on their target market and continue to regularly assess and refine all online marketing including their email marketing.
Furthermore and importantly many of the new online platforms such as Twitter require a different marketing approach - discussion for another article ...
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Comments - oldest entries appear first, most recent entries at the end.
Facebook is not exactly niche anymore.
By Polly De Bono on 01 10 2008
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