We all receive a lot of email these days, a majority of which is junk, some of which are marketing emails from businesses that you are a customer of.

These companies, depending on the sophistication of their databases, have some information about you - what you bought, where you live, stuff like that. And that's not a bad thing as a customer, to have opted-in to promotions from a company that has an idea of what you like. Its great that Southwest Airlines knows I fly from PHX to SFO regularly and notifies me of deals. What I'm not interested in is getting prescription drugs, making my penis larger, or taking HGH. That's what separates email ads from outright spam.

I recently got this email promotion from an online printing company I've used several times over the last few years. They do decent printing at a low price and are great for my value-conscious clients. As an opted-in existing customer, why on earth would they send me a promotion for new customers only?

Furthermore, I've noticed a lot of companies sending more email promotions out. I'm a fan of email marketing, its cheap, and when targeted and executed properly can be very effective. But even for someone like me that has a higher tolerance for receiving opt-in mail, many companies have worn out their welcome by sending information too frequently.

So 2 rules of thumb to leave you with...

1. No more than one email promotion per week if you legitimately have something new, unique, and relevant. Most companies should do so even less.
2. Target your emails. Most email distribution companies have rudimentary ways of classifying your master list into multiple categories. Sort your list, and send your customers what they are interested in.
   

Labels: Advertising, direct mail, email marketing

# posted by Ray Huang @ 9:20 AM
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Dear Wingman,

Is email marketing more effective than direct mail?

The real answer is... "It Depends."
It depends on who you're trying to reach.
It depends on your type of business.
It depends on what you're trying to achieve.
It depends on your budget.
It depends on how you measure effectiveness.

For local B2C companies, email marketing may not be very effective unless marketing to your existing client base. Purchasing personal email lists are hard to come by for very local markets, and consumers are very quick to write off unsolicited email as spam, no matter how brilliant you think your subject line is. Generally speaking, I'd recommend direct mail for B2C companies with a local or regional reach. But it can be expensive and require a lot of repetition.

B2B email lists are far easier to generate or purchase. Lists are available by industry, by geography, and by profession. Plus you can tap into industry sources and associations for some of these prospects. Its considerably less expensive and allows for better tracking and customization. But don't over do it. Its a trap that a lot of over zealous small businesses run into. An email every few weeks is already too much. I generally recommend no more than once per month. And like all branding, the message needs to look consistent, professional, fresh, and of course... make sure there is a call to action on all of your communications.

So there really is no clear answer that email marketing is more effective. The truth is, if you're in question, you probably should be doing both... and a lot more.

Labels: direct mail, email marketing

# posted by Ray Huang @ 1:13 PM
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