Email marketing

Email can act as the fulcrum of 'new' media marketing; it has also become a means of breathing new life into 'old' media strategies.

Over the last two years marketing agencies have been under increasing pressure to measure and report on the effectiveness of campaigns under their direction.

Similarly, company decision-makers have been held to greater account on how they spend their budgets, and the return on investment they predict or achieve.

Email marketing campaigns help both company and agency to produce real-time intelligence about their marketing activity and their markets, in order to deliver what customers want.

The response from, and perceived value of, most 'cold' business-to-business and business-to-consumer white mail is now very low. Campaigns have to be undertaken, in most instances, in vast numbers to get a measurable return.

It is also difficult to assess campaign performance with any confidence. Poor data, poor profiling, weak value proposition and bad timing may all contribute to a weak campaign.

Direct mail is highly prone to information error and, understandably,
no one feels valued knowing that they are being bombarded by a dumb database. A business manager receives an average of 14 mail pieces a week, while an AB household receives an average of 197 items a year. The waste caused by inaccuracy and lack of relevance is extremely high.

Email offers a way both to deliver what customers actually want and to refocus traditional white mail material to make it more effective.

Recipients of email can opt-in or make use of self-help options, which gives users the control they naturally prefer. Campaign results can be tracked in real-time according to the email recipient's next actions, which can be tracked via interactive, dynamic response devices or via web 'landing zones'.

The sender can also extend a courteous 'unsubscribe' option which will prevent either wasting the other's time in future.

Companies can grow and service customer and prospect databases in the confidence that the data is clean and relevant to their services or products. Any white mail despatched on request is much more likely to result in the next step in the desired relationship cycle.

The speed of email technology not only means that communication is personal and virtually instant but also that quick feedback allows
mid-campaign modification that would not be possible without huge cost and disruption in 'old' media campaigns.

Email delivery is of course remarkably cost effective (ok, cheap!) compared to other delivery methods, which lends it to overuse. It is therefore only email communications with good design, rich content and extended contact options that achieve positive ongoing results.

With the advent of new automation technologies marketing momentum can become almost self-perpetuating, with elements across all media supporting and augmenting the other, be it verbal, mail, email, advertising, POS, exhibition, radio, SMS, etc. The formula, when well applied, holds true for small and large companies, as well as for low and high volume campaigns.

Integrated email marketing activity is becoming a significant part of companies' relationship building (CRM) at the same time that it is restoring direct mail (whether white or electronic) to the status of sales tool rather awareness piece.

AIT Marketing Associates Limited is a full service marketing agency providing marketing solutions, and branding and design services for print and new media. AIT has recently developed an email marketing module that allows email to be sent, tracked and analysed to deliver market intelligence for ongoing customer and prospect engagement. Contact us to talk over your company's specific requirements