Keep Up—and Keep Using—Email

October 10, 2012 | COMMENTS

Email is one of the most important digital marketing channels, but it's rapidly evolving, according to Reggie Brady, president of direct marketing consultancy Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions.

“The biggest change is the influence of mobile,” Brady says in an interview with Target Marketing.

In May 2011, recipients read 16% of emails on a mobile device. But five months later recipients used mobile to read 23% of emails, according to Return Path, an email intelligence firm.

That number is even higher now, and a conservative estimate is that recipients view one-third of all emails on mobile.

“This phenomenon has dramatically changed the rules for email templates,” notes Brady.

One significant change is that most of the email service providers (ESPs) now have services that integrate with websites, and ESPs have stepped up reporting on social sharing. This gives marketers more options and intelligence.

One aspect that hasn't changed is that email still delivers the highest return on investment (ROI) of any online or offline channel, claims Brady, citing figures from the Direct Marketing Association showing email with the best ROI so far in 2012.

Where email really shines is for communicating marketing offers, providing content, and cementing relationships. For marketers, solidifying relationships means not having a "batch and blast" mentality. It means being relevant, and speaking directly to customers.

Email management recommendations from Brady include:

• Apply segmentation techniques;
• Address inactives;
• Put an “abandoned cart” email program in place; and
• Follow up with those who browsed but did not purchase.

Despite an explosion of channels, Brady is skeptical as to whether any of them will displace email. 

While she acknowledges that channels are constantly evolving, she’s watching how social and mobile morph into key digital marketing components.

“We're not there yet,” observes Brady. “Few marketers have been able to make ecommerce really work on social sites, for example. But these channels are still new, and business models will change.”

With the customer in control of purchasing and decision making, customers will use their preferred channels to interact with a marketer.

“A marketer needs to be good at orchestrating all the channels—or at least those that are important,” says Brady. Email remains one of those channels.