At MediaPost's Email Insider Summit a keynote speaker referenced an old John Wanamaker quote about advertising that has modern marketing application: "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Replace "advertising" with "email marketing" and the quote is fresh again.Advertising was born in a simpler time. The message was simple, the distribution channel was simple. Ads contained a logo, a slogan and, sometimes, a jingle, and everyone knew the jingle because it was delivered on one of the only three channels available on television. Marketers didn’t struggle with how to reach their audience.
Fast forward 50 years. Media is consumed everywhere and consumers have choices. They can seek you out or they can block you out.
Every day, marketers struggle with how best to spend, not waste, their advertising dollars and effectively reach their defined target consumer.
As media usage by consumers becomes more scattered and sophisticated, marketers need to seek out more effective, efficient ways to reach their customer. The consumer is their reason for being. So how do we make them aware, persuade them to buy and ensure they’re happy (so they become repeat customers and perhaps even tell their friends)?
That question leads us back to the issue of relevance. Are you reaching your target customer with a relevant and timely message? Gone are the days of throwing an ad out in the newspaper and crossing your fingers that your brick and mortar stores become bombarded with customers needing your product right away. It’s just not realistic. Your customers expect more from you.
(Email eloquently enters the room)
Email is the fastest, most effective way to engage your customer. Doing email marketing right offers timeliness, relevance and is marvelously measurable.
Email asks your customer to take action and participate – open, click through, purchase, forward. Email allows the marketer to target their message to a specific audience and is open to post program analysis. It allows marketers to interact with their customers. By reviewing and effectively interpreting the results of an email campaign, the marketer is able to learn things from their customers’ actions that, moving forward, enable them to deliver content accordingly.
An important key function of an effective email marketing program is the value of your email list. Who is your target? What is the quality of your list? How did you obtain your list? How often do you update your list? What actions have customers taken in the past and what is the expected action for the future?
Being able to knowledgeably answer the above questions offers the marketer the opportunity to really connect with their customers, to be first in their hearts and minds. All that’s necessary is delivering content that is relevant to them. By constantly reviewing what your customers are telling you (by the actions they are taking) and adjusting your message accordingly, you’ll increase your customer satisfaction, which in-turn reflects positively in the bottom line. Happy customer = increased revenue = lower expenses = a healthy bottom line.
With all this wonderful data at your fingertips, there are no excuses.
