Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Think E-mail Marketing Is Dying?

email marketing
Mark Twain said it best: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." With all the hype surrounding social media and mobile marketing, it would be easy to assume that e-mail is yesterday's news, with little chance of keeping up with the other marketing methods now available.

But according to the numbers, this assumption is incorrect. E-mail usage has remained remarkably steady, even in the face of new competition. Research shows that for 74 percent of adults surveyed, e-mail is still the preferred method for receiving commercial messages. This perhaps surprising statistic can help explain the continued proliferation of e-zines and other e-mail marketing today.

It's no longer true that only the largest businesses are the most likely to use e-mail. As smaller companies outgrow their sole-proprietor beginnings, they increasingly look for new ways to expand their businesses to support higher headcounts and overhead. Business surveys reveal that almost half of small businesses were using e-mail marketing in 2010, with an additional 36 percent reporting plans to begin this year.

The dollars spent annually reflect this high participation rate. On average, e-mail promotion accounts for about 15 percent to 22 percent of total marketing budgets. These billions spent every year have certainly attracted attention, with many new e-mail distribution and copywriting firms popping up.

This gives today's marketer many options to choose from, ranging from self-serve programs to ones that are completely managed by an outside vendor. Choices are often dictated by the level of expertise and resources available internally.

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