Yes, I know it’s old! And yes, I know the Internet is clogged with spam! But the recession is giving email marketing new life! Why the new life? The answer is simple. Businesses are turning to cost-effective proven programs that get results. Email marketing fits this bill perfectly.

First, email is one of the most cost-effective direct marketing methods. Email campaigns can be fully implemented at a fraction of the cost of direct mail campaigns. Unlike direct mail campaigns every element of an email campaign is trackable including open rate, click through rate (to a landing page, if one is used in the campaign), and recipients’ response rate. This allows the return on investment (ROI) to be easily calculated. Lastly, it’s fast. Email campaigns can be quickly developed, precisely launched (including targeting and timing), and 80% of the recipients will respond (i.e. either take action or ignore it) within 48 hours.

Retailers in particular are embracing email marketing along with their shift in focus to customer retention in the current recession-era market. Longer-term marketing programs are being shelved in favor of low hanging fruit. The fact is email is low hanging fruit. According to a Shop.org study, 64% of the retailers increasing their advertising spending are putting more dollars into email marketing. That same study indicated that 96% of those retailers decreasing their advertising spending are still maintaining their email advertising budgets.

We have done countless email campaigns at TMA E-Marketing, for start-ups to enterprise companies. We were there when email was the hottest Internet marketing arrow in the quiver. We saw it decline as spam clogged email in-boxes and as search engine marketing became king. Now, it’s making a comeback and with good reason. When done properly, it is capable of yielding amazing results. There’s the catch. What does it mean to do it properly? Here are the three top rules we consider important:

1. The list is the most critical element. The only list that will work is a targeted opt-in list. If it’s not targeted, the results will be hit and miss. If it’s not opt-in, it will not comply with the Can-Spam law. The best list is a company’s in-house opt-in email list. This is a list where the company’s clients and prospects have agreed to accept email messages from them. We are generally able to routinely get 25-50% open rates using in-house opt-in lists.
2. The second critical element is the offer. The offer needs to be compelling. Finding the right compelling offer is far from easy and generally requires careful testing of different offers.
3. Everything else is tied for third! This includes email design, copy, landing page, etc. In short, if you don’t get the first two elements right (i.e. the list and a compelling offer), nothing you do from that point on will matter.

Obviously, tracking every element of the email campaign is essential. With careful tracking you will be able to segment the list, test different offers, and test other elements of the campaign. Ultimately, tracking will enable a return on investment to be calculated. Doing an email campaign without tracking is equivalent to driving with a blindfold. The results are likely to be disastrous.

One last point that is often overlooked is email’s branding power. Email is generally viewed as a direct response marketing tool. However, email provides an opportunity for a company to raise brand awareness and to maintain its brand. Even those recipients that don’t take action are still exposed to the company’s brand and messaging.

The recession has required companies to pinch pennies and focus on what works. Guess what? They are rediscovering that email is cost-effective and works!

Part 1:  The Current Reality

At this point, almost everyone is being affected by the worst recession since the great depression.  Both small and large businesses alike are scrambling to cut losses and find a way back to profitability.

There is wide agreement that advertising is the lifeblood of business.  Yet, advertising itself is going through a major metamorphosis.  Let’s just look at two key factors:
•    Total advertising spend
•    Shifts in advertising spend to other media, such as the Internet & mobile devices

First, let’s consider total advertising spend.
Forecasted total advertizing spend for 2009, according to the 2008 Starcom MediaVest Group’s Annual Media Futures Report, is predicted to decrease a record 2.4 percent.  This is the largest year-over-year decrease ever predicted.  In my opinion, this forecast may even be optimistic.  For example, Morgan Stanley Research recently published its analysis of U.S. Ad Spend versus the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  From its data, if the GDP year-over-year growth is flat (2009/2008) the ad spend could decline 4%.  Couple this with the U.S. Federal Reserve’s forecast that the economy won’t see even a moderate recovery until 2010 and a gloomy picture emerges.

Second, let’s consider shifts in advertising spend to other media.
Almost every forecast is predicting advertising expenditures to decrease in traditional media, including print, radio, and television, and migrate to the Internet.  In fact, almost six out of ten national advertisers polled indicated they intended to increase their Internet budget in 2009.  For example, according to Advertising Age, February 21, 2009, GM’s 117-page plan included a statement that the company “will continue to lead the industry in digital and search–marketing capability.”  They also quoted a GM spokeswoman’s elaboration, “You’ll continue to see more digital and social media activation as integral parts of our advertising and marketing efforts, because it’s cost-effective, efficient and allows for deeper customer engagement on their terms.”  GM is not alone in their drive to the Internet.  In the same article, Ad Age quoted a Chrysler spokeswoman, “We are focused on our Interactive lead strategy.  We increased our leads from 270,000 in 2007 to 605,000 in 2008 … We made it easier for customers to submit a request for information on our own Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge site…”

The current reality is that Internet marketing, advertising, and public relations is out performing their traditional counterparts.  However, there are numerous Internet marketing, advertising, and public relations campaign methodologies.  This begs a key question:  What is the right Internet Marketing Plan for my business?

I will address this question in my next post:  Part 2:  The Internet Marketing Plan, which will post on April 6, 2009.

Welcome to iBlogMarketing, an online Internet marketing blog updated by TMA E-Marketing.  We launched this blog early 2006 as a place to share online marketing articles and resources.  As you may have noticed, this appears to be the first post to iBlogMarketing.  Hence, if you are reading this post 06’, you may be wondering where all the content is.  To keep a long story short, iBlogMarketing has been through a series of several sever migrations which in turn had affected much of the quality content that we had provided.  Additionally, we decided to change the scope of iBlogMarketing to be more future forward thinking versus providing online marketing tips and resources (which is now located on our sister online marketing blog.)

iBlogMarketing’s face lift comes from a combination of the latest version of Mimbo (a magazine/news inspired theme), the latest version of WordPress, and several new features aimed at sharing our core mission further.  Yes, it’s been a bumpy road to say the least.  However, we deeply appreciate your support through the years and in making this transition.  If you like what we have offer here, we also encourage you to take a look at these fine resources which we own an operate:

TMA E-Marketing- A Minnesota based full service online marketing agency.
TMA E-Marketing Blog- The online marketing blog that gets you more business!
iBlogBusiness- The web’s largest collection of business blogs.
iBizRadio- The Web’s largest collection of business podcasts.
Radiospective’s- A Minnesota based business podcast radio show series aimed at interviewing successful business professionals from around the globe.