E-mail marketing decline is 'greatly exaggerated'

Emedia has taken an in-depth look into the future of e-mail as a marketing tool, and considered the threats that social media and marketer overuse pose to its continuing success.

Since the meteoric take-up of opt-in e-mail as a viable marketing communications tool during the 1990s, there are those who have consistently predicted its eventual demise.

Fast-forward a decade or so and e-mail marketing remains a principal weapon of choice for many marketers tasked with trumpeting out their messaging for businesses of all sizes and in all industry sectors.

In fact, such is the stubborn resistance that e-mail marketing continues to display, that independent research company Forrester Research has recently released a report that predicts e-mail marketing spend will rocket to around USD2bn (GBP1.2bn) in the US by 2014.

This roughly represents an 11 per cent compound annual growth rate.

This is despite the current economic situation, which itself may be acting as a catalyst for increased investment in e-mail marketing rather than as a barrier.

There are a number of very compelling reasons why e-mail marketing has sustained its position of prominence as a valuable marketing channel.

E-mail marketing is virtually unrivalled for highly desirable 'per-recipient' costs that can be attributed mainly to no print, no postage and no mailing logistics expenses.

An e-mail campaign can be completed and, if necessary, tweaked in just a few hours compared with a traditional direct mail campaign, which often takes days or even weeks.

Typically, the response rate for opt-in e-mail marketing is many times greater than its natural competitor, direct mail.

It also allows you to adjust aspects of your campaign according to the results.

E-mail campaigns are able to be tracked more effectively compared with other marketing channels and deliver near real-time statistics for accurate reporting and analysis.

While a recipient may not always act on a value proposition, there's always a possibility that they might share the information with others.

They are doing the marketers' job for them at no cost or effort to the originator.

But are there clouds on the horizon?
The march of technology is as unrelenting as it is fast-paced so it's inevitable that e-mail marketing continues to face up to its fair share of suitors vying for a share of the lucrative online marketing space.

The 'new kids on the block' - the assortment of easily accessible and mostly free social media tools - have certainly made a huge impact, but rather than directly challenge e-mail marketing as a mass marketing methodology, they can actually serve to fuel the use of e-mail.

At first glance, popular social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin appear to threaten e-mail because of its 'closed' structure, which limits communication to just its members.

In fact, e-mail is actually highly integrated into social networking and while social media is changing the way we communicate, it's not completely replacing the way we send information.

The e-marketing tail is still wagging as strongly as ever but a few cautionary words are needed at this point.

The biggest threat to the continued success of e-mail marketing could come from within - in other words, e-mail marketers must take care not to 'love it to death'.

As the amount of personal and commercial e-mail sent out globally has increased dramatically over recent years, there are now signs that this trend cannot continue without some kind of price to be paid.

Yet few marketers seem to be slowing down the frequency or reducing the volume of their e-messaging.

This suggests that some thought needs to be urgently applied to creating a more streamlined approach to direct communication online unless this long-established and highly effective medium is sacrificed on the altar of excess.

The spend on ad-sponsored newsletters is set to double over the next five years as traditional print publishers combat falling circulation and reduced advertising revenue.

Forrester Research also predicts that within this timeframe, 'consumers will be deluged with more than 9,000 e-mail marketing messages annually'.

That's an average of a couple of dozen every single day of the week.

It seems likely that there will be many e-mail recipients tapping their delete key with increasing regularity and with mounting irritation.

This effect has serious potential for e-mail marketing to being a descent into the void of disenfranchised audiences who embrace e-mail with all the enthusiasm of a farmer sighting a swarm of crop-eating pests.

For e-mail marketers to successfully sidestep the all-powerful spam filters only to fall at the final hurdle would be lamentable.

It's common practice for businesses to use in-house resources for their e-mail marketing.

Predictably, this meets with varying levels of success so it's worth considering engaging the services of a reputable e-mail marketing specialist to maximise marketing spend and achieve a solid return on investment.

There seems to be little doubt that e-mail marketing remains an extremely attractive medium as an online marketing channel.

Prudence and discretion will be important factors for marketers whose raison d'etre is to generate qualified business leads and convert them into revenue.

Done legitimately, using good judgement and skill, e-mail is set to remain the most efficient and cost-effective method for opt-in marketing.

While doom lords may yet have their day, recent evidence suggests that rumours of e-mail marketing's decline are greatly exaggerated.

Back to top