New Realities for E-Mail MarketingWritten by Lee Traupel
Spam e-mail is no longer mild irritant it once was - it's clogging corporate networks and ISP mail servers and has become a real productivity drain, forcing corporate and consumer e-mail users to spend 20-30 minutes a day dealing with this deluge of junk! According to recent figures, unsolicited bulk e-mail now makes up to 36% of all e-mail, up from under 8% just over a year ago. And, what's worse, more and more legitimate e-mail is not getting through to recipients due to Spam filtering taking place via ISPs and/or corporate networks. Opt-in E-Mail Marketing 30K foot Picture Opt-in e-mail marketing is clearly losing some of its effectiveness as a viable marketing tool much to consternation of those of us who have been advocating its effectiveness for years! This is not to say opt-in e-mail isn't a viable way to market goods and services - but ROI (read response rates) is heading south quickly and needs to be considered when assessing viability of this marketing process, as response rates have dropped on average from 10-20% to 3-10%. However, opt-in e-mail is not disappearing off marketing horizons - Forrester forecasts spending on e-mail marketing will grow from $1.3B (USD) in 2001 to $6.8B in 2006 and Jupiter Media Metrix is even more optimistic, forecasting growth rates from $1B in 2001 to $9.4B in 2006. But, there is a dark undercurrent to these numbers that is fueling market growth and driving down response rates - some opt-in agencies, brokers and media representatives are "flogging" lists by overselling them - so caveat emptor. Five Offsetting Marketing Strategies 1) Deploy opt-in e-mail campaigns very selectively (!) - buy opt-in e-mail lists from legitimate top-tier broker/list managers who are well established, are not "over-sending" messages to list subscribers and who are constantly refreshing their list quality by adding new subscribers. Critical questions to ask brokers include: how many messages ("frequency" in ad speak) are sent to each list recipient per month, how are new subscribers added and what is percentage of new members added per month, are they using "third party" (someone else's list) lists to augment their own, are their lists "double opt in" (meaning, you sign up and then must reply to a signup confirmation to be added to a list) and last but not least, what is their privacy policy and how strictly do they adhere to published industry standards.
| | Fundamental Strategic Marketing Mistakes to Avoid Written by Lee Traupel
This is a pretty tough global economy and it is critical for a company to leverage every bit of their marketing resources. So, if this is case, why are so many companies shooting themselves in proverbial foot by breaking some of most fundamental rules of marketing? It's a very simple question with complex answers - here are some of pitfalls to avoid: 1) Believing a second rate web site communicates integrity: So many web sites are just plain funky looking (graphics, text, menus, etc.) - nice professional term, but it's descriptive of some of dreck that passes for web site design. A company should not forget that perception is reality on web and people aren't going to do business with a company that can't field a decent web site - end of story! 2) Deploying a marketing strategy that's all over map: Is Yahoo a Search Engine, a Portal or a Hollywood Media company? They are classic 3D hologram advertisement for a company that can't figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. A company must pick a marketing strategy and then stay course - changing direction every time wind shifts is not a good business strategy and creates more motion than action. 3) Forgetting real brand development: Branding became ".com" rallying cry for every newby wet behind ears with an Internet dream to become a billionaire by selling dog food on web (I'll leave sock puppet out of this) - we all know this didn't work. But that does not mean a company should ignore brand development - it's important to remember that a good brand is built one marketing process at a time; everything that a company publishes, develops or communicate is part of brand building process, which in turn defines company's market position. 4) Ignoring distribution channels by selling direct via an ecommerce web site: A company should not build and launch an ecommerce site and start selling direct to customers and forget about a distribution channel. It's imperative to give customer choice to buy direct from your company or locate a distribution channel partner via a look up capability on site. And, if you really want to win hearts and mind of a channel never sell below retail (SRP) - and afford channel opportunity to discount your product so they can compete effectively with you.
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