Email Marketing by the Book
Email marketing inspiration & ideas
from the mind of Joel Book, ExactTarget’s
Director of eMarketing Education.
Email Marketing by the Book
One of the most powerful capabilities of email marketing is that it enables small brands to “level the playing field” with bigger competitors and produce AMAZING RESULTS.
And one of the best examples I can point to of how a small CPG (consumer packaged goods) brand is using Email as the backbone of its digital marketing strategy is Dreamfields. With the help of its digital marketing agency, HyperDrive Interactive, this small but very savvy marketer of low-carb pasta is using email marketing to fuel sales and energize a growing community of “Dreamfields Brand Fans” who happily recommend...
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As I
write this, 93% of UK online consumers are email subscribers and
40% of these subscribers are opening, reading and responding to
email on their mobile phones or tablets. If you think these
statistics suggest UK consumers prefer email above all channels for
receiving offers and information from brands, you are absolutely
correct!
A new report from eMarketer confirms why more marketing budget is flowing to permission-based email and why email has become “The Linchpin” of integrated digital marketing strategies.
Among the key findings in the report are these:
- Econsultancy and Adestra’s Email...
Permission-based
email has become the foundation of successful direct marketing.
From e-newsletters and travel alerts to promotional messages and
purchase receipts, email is viewed as the most appropriate direct
channel for brands to communicate with consumers. Today,
93% of US online consumers are email subscribers
and receive at least one permission-based email message each
day.
As the ExactTarget 2012 Channel Preference Survey revealed, 66% of US online consumers report making at least one purchase that was triggered by an offer received via email. And for B2B marketing, nothing tops email...
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Permission-based
email has become the foundation of successful one-to-one marketing,
and a company's database of email subscribers is one of its most
valuable assets.
And with good reason! As our 2012 Channel Preference Survey revealed, 66% of US online consumers report making at least one purchase that was triggered by an offer received via email. And for BtoB marketing, nothing tops email for aiding the customer’s buying decision. In a 2012 article, BtoB Magazine reported that 59% of BtoB marketers say email is their most effective channel for generating revenue.
At the recent 2013 MarketingShe...
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The
margin for error in Marketing has become razor thin.
Here are five "MegaTrends" that underscore why
marketing professionals need to be at the
top of their game in
2013.
MegaTrend #1: Customers are More Informed, More Influential, and Less Patient
Today’s customers are better connected, more informed, and more technically savvy than even 3-5 years ago. They have considerably more access to information to make smarter purchase decisions. They are much less patient with brands that do not deliver the information and offers they want. And they are much more vocal in expressing satisfaction –...
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In its “Online Holiday Shopping Forecast and Trends”
issued in September, eMarketer predicted that 
25
percent of e-commerce sales will happen during the 2012 holiday
season.
Without question, retailers are using traditional advertising tactics including radio and television commercials, direct mail and print ads to drive customers to stores. And many will use social media, online video, and in-store promotions. But the biggest catalyst for holiday sales this year will be mobile.
New research Prosper Mobile Insights reveals why mobile devices are fueling holiday retail sales:
- 66 percent of...
Marketing has become a data-driven science requiring insight and execution. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than their counterpart CIOs.1
According to Gartner’s Adam Sarner, “digital marketing represents a shift in strategy and approach, not just in channels. Although traditional campaign management thinking involves executing campaigns directly to the customer, successful digital marketing must act more as a mutually beneficial journey aimed at satisfying customers’ wants and needs. This is a customer-focused strategy approach that will profoundly shift...
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Few assets are more valuable than a company’s customer base.
Yet, most companies are more systematic about managing their office supplies than their customers. Research continues to show the majority of companies don’t know enough about their customer’s preferences and needs, what products or services they use, if they are satisfied, or if they are thinking about defecting to the competition, and why.
The problem is NOT the lack of customer data. Rather, pockets of customer data exist throughout the company. The problem is that none of it is integrates to create “one version of the truth”...
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I’ve said many times that a company’s Brand Advocates are its Most Effective Marketers. But until you actually understand the influence brand advocates have on the purchase decisions of others, you cannot fully appreciate their value.
The other thing that is becoming crystal-clear is this: Email is the toolBrand Advocates use most for recommending products and services to others.
Last week, Zuberance, social media marketing company focused on Brand Advocates, published an eye-opening INFOGRAPHIC that shows just how important Brand Advocates are in creating awareness of a brand’s products and...
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Digital media has forever transformed how brands and consumers interact with each other. Online marketing has become a 24x7 multi-channel symphony designed to engage and inspire today’s hyper-connected consumer. And hopefully compel them to buy the brand’s product.
To visualize the “avalanche of digital activity” that is taking place between brands and consumers, business intelligence company DOMO paired up with Column Five Media to create this infographic to show what’s happening online every minute of every day,.
The sheer volume of online activity is staggering. Especially if you’re a...
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In
her recent DM News article titled, "Restaurants
Drive Consumers to Dine Out with Calculated Email Coupons,"
Diana Dilworth reports restaurant chains are having huge success
using email to attract new and repeat customers. What’s noteworthy,
I think, is that restaurant chains like Pei Wei Asian Diner and
Taco John’s International have
learned that the key to successful email marketing is using other
channels like social media, in-store signage and mobile to invite
consumers to become email subscribers.To introduce its new Caramel Chicken entrée, Pei Wei used a cross-channel marketing...Read More »
Here's what you MUST know about B2B Social Media and how
to measure its effectiveness.
Social media use by B2B companies increased substantially in 2011.
According to the Business Marketing Association (BMA), 89% of U.S. B2B
companies are now using some type of social media to attract and
engage buyers. But while some B2B companies are reaping huge
benefits from social media, others are struggling.
Some B2B companies have found that professional networking sites like LinkedIn are an effective way to generate leads and influence decision-makers, while other companies find Facebook, Twitter...
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Are
you using the “Triangle Offense” of email, mobile and social media
as part of your B2B tactical program? If not, perhaps it’s time to
reboot your B2B marketing strategy.
One-way broadcast marketing has given away to a multi-channel digital dialogue fueled by data and enabled by interactive technology. To engage today’s empowered and influential buyer, smart B2B marketers are effectively leveraging digital media to:
- generate leads
- aid the customer buying process
- penetrate accounts
Several of the country’s top companies are successfully using the Triangle Offense to solve real problems...
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Marketers
have long relied on multiple channels to drive engagement, but
today marketing requires a new approach – one built on a single
view of the customer that values real-time interaction over static
channel-focused campaigns. The antiquated one-to-many monologue of
mass marketing has given way to the one-to-one digital dialogue of
engagement marketing that is fueled by customer data and enabled by
interactive marketing technology.In "The Age of the Individual," the most successful marketers are using a carefully integrated mix of Email, Mobile, Social media to attract, engage and retain...Read More »
Volvo Construction Equipment North America sells a variety of
multi-purpose machines that are used by companies in many
industries including road construction, forestry, mining, and
building demolition. To engage customers and provide content that
aids the product evaluation and purchase process, Volvo uses email
to deliver relevant product information with links to comprehensive
product details and video on Volvo websites. Volvo uses its CRM
system to track customer details, eMail activities, social
interaction, online form submissions, web links and more. This
method helps Volvo Construction...Read More »
Recently in MarketingSherpa, there is an outstanding article about
how ScottsMiracle-Gro
has effectively leveraged SMS to attract new email subscribers
for Lawn Care Update, the company’s highly successful email
newsletter which has more than 1.5 million subscribers.
The article was written following an interview with Mindi Staley,
Senior Specialist, Interactive Marketing at Scotts. Mindi will
present this case study at next week’s Email
Evolution Conference in Miami.
Story
Highlights
ScottsMiracle-Gro has a longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball (MLB). Those of you who are...Read More »
The article was written following an interview with Mindi Staley,
Senior Specialist, Interactive Marketing at Scotts. Mindi will
present this case study at next week’s Email
Evolution Conference in Miami.Story
HighlightsScottsMiracle-Gro has a longstanding relationship with Major League Baseball (MLB). Those of you who are...Read More »
Please
Join me for “The Triangle
Offense of Digital Direct Marketing” – A Special Webinar for
Marketing and Sales Executives on Nov 17th at 2:00pm ETI’m very excited to join Phil Alexander, CEO of BrandMuscle, to discuss how smart marketers leverage Email, Mobile and Social media to drive sales and retain customers. If you’re not already familiar with BrandMuscle, you should be. They develop and execute enterprise-wide marketing campaigns for companies that sell through franchisees, agents, dealers, distributors, and VARs. If you’re interested in learning how to plan and manage successful...Read More »
Dreamfield’s Pasta is a marketer of 100-percent
organic pasta products. The company is a great example of a CPG
(consumer packaged goods) marketer who has successfully made the
move to online marketing in response to consumer preference to buy
through that channel. The company has moved away from a traditional
print and broadcast advertising strategy to attract customers, to a
multichannel digital marketing strategy that relies on email
marketing and online social marketing to drive retail sales and
create “brand fans.” Helping Dreamfields Pasta plan and execute it
innovative strategy is ExactT...
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When you hear
the name, Johnston & Murphy, you may assume this is an old
company with products–with strategy and tactics to match. And you
would be very, very wrong. This is definitely not your father’s
Johnston & Murphy!
Johnston & Murphy (J&M), which boasts close to 200 stores, a catalog and an e-commerce site, is taking advantage of marketing tools and technology–anchored by email marketing and web analytics–to convert shoppers into buyers and create relationships that keep customers connected to the J&M brand.
While many retailers are struggling in today’s challenging economy, J&M is proving...
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Marketing dollars are going where the customers and prospects are. And that place is online. Online channels are lower cost and more measurable, and as a result, online continues to take sales revenue from traditional direct marketing channels. In increasing numbers, marketers are finding it’s important for their organization to shift their marketing focus to interactive marketing.
E-commerce Sales Forecasted to Top $152 Billion in
2010
The eMarketer prediction follows the
U.S. Census Bureau’s release showing online sales in Q4 2009
grew by 14.6 percent over a year earlier–the biggest gain in...
