It would not be right or fair for this post to simply recap Forrester Research's new report, Your Email Marketing Road Map for 2009 (registration required), released today. The author, Julie Katz, covers a lot of ground in it, provides quantitative support for her findings, and provides a top 10 list (who doesn’t love a top 10 list?) of things email marketers can do to improve their overall email marketing programs.That said, it is fair to reinforce just one point she makes in this report – data management matters with respect to email.
If you’ve been reading the Lunch Pail for more than 30-seconds, you’re probably aware that Forrester agrees with us on the importance of data management within email marketing. So I’d be remiss not to point out, in the name of full disclosure, that Knotice was interviewed for this report. The degree to which the interview and our philosophy shaped the report’s final conclusions is, obviously, subjective. But, the points stands.
Email marketing is innovating, as Julie rightly delineates in her latest report. Properly managing all of the data at your disposal is the primary driving force behind that. Better segmentation creates better relevance – which in turn creates better ROI.
So, here’s a suggestion to the email marketing professionals reading this post: Do what’s best for your customers. It turns out that what is best for your customers (more relevance) is also what’s best for your bottom line (more ROI)… and also what is necessary to drive further innovation in email marketing. Whether you’re currently in an ESP review or not, take a look at the various features, functions, programs, and services your current provider or group of prospects has. That’s your toolkit – use all of it!
Also, accept that current economic conditions and changing consumer attitudes must impact your approach to email marketing. Accept that modifying your approach to email marketing isn’t scary, it’s necessary. Most of all, demand more from your email partners by exercising your leverage with them (… that’s something most ESPs won’t tell you!).
