Have you heard email marketing is dead?

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one – email marketing is dead. While some may tout that as a truth of the 21st century, the data and the momentum behind ExactTarget’s Connections Conference tell a vastly different story. B2B Magazine reports that 59% of B2B marketers name email as the most effective channel for generating revenue. 49% of B2B marketers spend more time and resources on email than any other channel. In fact, 61% of marketing companies plan to increase their email marketing efforts in 2013. And, according to Nielsen, 50% of consumers trust the information in the emails they sign up for.

According to a recent eMarketer article, marketers will begin to increase the sophistication of their email marketing efforts. For example, 27% plan to append other customer data to email subscriber data, thus allowing for more robust targeting and segmentation. Additionally, 30% of marketers want to centralize email, mobile and social subscriber analysis.


Consider this statistic:

According to the Direct Marketing Association, in 2011, companies made an average of $40 for every dollar they spent on email marketing in 2011.


Email on its own can be a valuable, profitable business tool. But to augment your email marketing successes, email should not stand-alone. To get the most from your email marketing, make sure you:

  • Integrate your email service provider (ESP) with your CRM. Companies who integrate ESP with CRM cite year-over-year revenue gains of 22.7% vs. 13.4% for companies who don’t, according to Aberdeen Research. Especially with email, integration with your CRM provides marketers with the ability to execute highly targeted messaging campaigns.
    • One company leading the way is Volvo Construction Equipment who builds stronger (and more profitable) relationships with their customers by integrating social data with their email provider and data integration partner. Our recent work with ExactTarget will facilitate these CRM to ESP integrations.
    • Create a feedback loop. Use the information you learn about your customers from their behavior – which links they clicked in social media, on banner ads, in emails, etc – to shape and optimize your campaigns.  

For marketers, it’s not just their email marketing that they want to integrate with other systems. Marketers want to strengthen their entire ecosystem by integrating multiple services with their CRM system. Even some e-commerce platforms like Znode are joining, equipping marketers with up-to-the-minute customer data to develop relevant and highly personalized experiences by integrating purchase data with the CRM system. We understand the importance of those integrations as well.

If you are planning to be at ExactTarget Connections, we’d love to meet and chat about the growing role of data integration in accelerating business results. Connect with me or Scribe on Twitter.

Peter Chase
Peter founded Scribe Software along with Jim Clarke in the beginning of 1996. As Executive Vice President, Business Development, Peter is responsible for establishing and growing partnerships with other leading technology companies in support of Scribe's overall market and product strategy. Prior to founding Scribe, Peter held senior positions in sales, product marketing, and finance at SNAP Software, an early pioneer in CRM software that was acquired by Dun and Bradstreet. He has published numerous articles and whitepapers and is a frequent speaker and panelist at industry events.

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