Online Marketing: A User's Manual

Chapter 8

Email Marketing

INTRODUCTION

Email marketing has been slowly taking over from direct mail marketing for over a decade, and there is no shortage of innovation in the field. It’s about a lot more than just redesigning print mailers online – it is about developing new relationships with customers and maintaining those that already exist.

One of the most important social media marketing mantras is that you need to talk to people where they already are, and that applies to email marketing very well. Email is well established: almost everyone with a computer and Internet access has an email address, and the first thing most people do when they log onto a computer is check their email. That makes email a powerful tool in any kind of online marketing initiative. Statistics vary as to the actual numbers, but it’s established that three out of four email marketers have integrated social email into their campaigns.

I think Chris Brogan put the value of email in perspective when he said:

“Only 5% of people have a relationship with a brand through social media, whereas 95% of people have a relationship with a brand through email marketing.”

Beyond the basics, the transition from direct postal mail to email is really the evolution of this medium through integration and synchronization with social media campaigns. Connecting people with further content and sharing options can drastically ...