Watch Out Social Media, E-mail Marketing is Still #1
Posted by
Ken Krause on Tue, Apr 03, 2012 @ 11:15 AM
While normally we tend to write about technology public relations and social media in this space, I thought it was worth noting the results of an October, 2011 survey of US Internet users by Adpropo as reported in eMarketer. Of all the digital touchpoints used by marketers to reach their target audiences, opt-in email still came out on top by a wide margin.
Opt-in e-mail received a 47 percent positive rating. Video pre-roll ads – those annoying ads that run before the clips of celebrities doing something stupid – was next-highest at 31 percent positive, a full 16 percent behind e-mail. In case you were wondering, pop-up ads brought up the rear with just 12 percent of those surveyed giving them a positive rating. No surprise there.
It’s also interesting to note that opt-in email received the lowest negative scores as well. Only 32 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t like e-mail, versus 40 percent for Facebook ads, 52 percent for mobile ads and 58 percent for mobile/floating ads. Once again pop-ups have the worse negative scores, with 70 percent of those surveyed saying they don’t like them.
What does that tell marketers? For one thing, while e-mail may not be as cool or cutting edge as some other forms of marketing it definitely looks to be more effective. Customers and prospects who opt-in are interested in your products/services and are giving you permission to tell them more about them.
Compared to the other forms of marketing on the list it’s also less intrusive; you go to your e-mail inbox to receive messages. You go to the others (Facebook, video content, games, web pages) for a specific reason and the ads there interrupt that flow. The more they get in the way of your intended mission, the more negative the perception of them.
You can increase your success rate by personalizing e-mails and segmenting your lists to ensure that the content you send is relevant. For example, from the Tech Image point of view if you receive a great product review, or one of your subject matter experts is quoted in a forward-looking article in an industry publication, or one of your customers is profiled in a case study in a trade journal, your opt-in audience is going to want to know about it. That’s a great way to get more value out of your tech PR investment as you create intelligent digital touchpoints with your audience.
For more tips on how to help your voice rise above the noise, download our free PR Intelligence Report Dealing with “Media” in the Age of the Preview Pane.
Now it’s your turn. What digital touchpoints are working well for you? Which ones are not delivering the value you expected? How have you changed your marketing strategy in the last year?
