Over the past two years, we’ve seen a shift: Marketing messages are no longer based on the timetables of campaigns and the inbox. Instead, they take place anywhere and everywhere consumers have a place to voice their opinions — or lurk and read those of others.
E-mail marketers are trying to embrace this change, but they still seem too limited in their focus. Some marketers, for example, simply add the “ShareThis” or “AddThis” button to the bottom of their e-mail messages, or create Facebook pages to drive their messages into other social media locations. While these tactics won’t fail, they offer a narrow view of how e-mail and online marketing can be effective moving forward.
Companies today must know where their audiences live. They must know what they’re saying about their companies, products and brands. These conversations are not taking place in locations where companies control the copy, actions and atmosphere. Instead, they live inside Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, message boards, forums and blogs.
Have you set up ways to hear what is being said about your brands? Have you mastered strategies that can positively and effectively drive customers back to you?
Go outside the inbox
Set your sights on the following approaches to extend your campaigns outside of the inbox:
- Listen to the metrics of your Web site, e-mail campaigns and the conversations going on in the social locations. Subscribe to Google Alerts; build your own Yahoo Pipe, which is an interactive feed aggregator; or use a social media monitoring tool like Radian6 to help you capture this data.
- Use new media to expand your e-mail campaign reach. Continue to send your campaigns via e-mail, but post a message — or tweet— on microblogging site Twitter to let your audience know they’re coming. Also, create a page or account for your brand on MySpace, Facebook or LinkedIn, and send alerts to members about the campaign. Add a post to your blog or blogs about the new campaign.
- Add an RSS feed for your e-mail campaigns. This gives subscribers and nonsubscribers ways to easily get content as soon as it is published.
Dylan T. Boyd is the vice president of sales and strategy at eROI, a Portland, Ore.-based interactive and e-mail marketing agency.
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I think that email marketing has evolved considerably in the past few years. There are more ESP’s in the market which offer excellent services and templates. There are also desktop based software are much more cost effective and powerful. Now there are ways and means to track clickthroughs, forwards and other metrics that can gauge the effectiveness of email mailshot campaigns.
I agree with you Rebecca. I just want those that are email marketers to see marketing as a multi-tiered process and medium where all areas are important when relevant and impactful
Agreed, Mr. Boyd. The idea is the center of the universe. Its distribution is a function of skilled channel planning which, as you say, may or may not include email and social media, depending on a brand's audience and how/when they want to engage with it.