Email – needs to evolve

Email needs to Evolve – or Else

Social media is making great inroads in the communication cycle. 600 Million Facebook users, and 150 Million Twitter users are proof. We are also expecting to see Smartphones outselling computers for the first time this year (2011).

That being said, as I have written before, email is still KING of the communications sphere. Your email marketing program needs to shift and change as well as customer trends and preferences change.

As your emarketing advisor, we recommend that your communications make the effort to add Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Your emails should include those links and your Facebook Fan page should have an email opt-in as well. We suggest you begin this process by picking up the minimum data required, i.e. email address, first and last name. You can always get more data during the communication process.

Keep in mind “that buyers have changed the way they buy”, so keep your communications friendly and have a consistent “voice” in delivery.  It’s suggested you provide the basics in email communications.

1) Offers

2) Information

3) Education

If your email offers are all about you, your company and your brand you bound to lose them. So stay away from corporate “speak” and sales pitches. Ensure your email communications provide value for your customer and prospects. After all it’s a privilege that they allow you in their inbox, and Facebook or Twitter pages, so treat it so.

Depending on your level of sophistication, there are many email tools out there that can be implemented to enhance your email experiences using dynamic content and personalizing your messaging. Your digital agency can assist you when you are ready to evaluate and implement this level of process. In the interim, the takeaway on this is to ensure you are capturing and nurturing your opt-in email lists, as well as utilizing social media in this endeavour as well. Email needs to evolve, and so does your marketing.

Michael Bickerton, Raven5 Ltd, Toronto, March 2011

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