Although a much older marketing tool than social networking sites, recent market research by Marketing Sherpa found that "32% of buyers said email was their favored method for receiving product/services information, compared to 20% of marketers who believed email was a buyer’s favored method." The research was conducted by asking a group of buyers and a group of marketers the same questions and discovering a gap between buyer behaviour and what the marketers believed it was.
e-mail is very cost effective marketing tool (particularly when numbers are high) compared with postal mailings, although these still have their place, . To some extent e-mails can be tracked to see who opened them and response action can then be picked up if they clicked through to a landing page. However there are a lot of factors involved so it is usually best to regard the figures as indicative not absolute. Experience shows that with a compelling offer people take action on receipt of an e-mail. So what can be done to boost that response rate?
Well, the research yielded 4 main insights:
- Buyers rely on e-mail more than marketers think.
- Provide offers that direct readers to take the next step.
- Personalised sender information can increase engagement
- Appeal to buyers, personal not just organisational motivations.
Of course e-mail is not the whole answer, but used as part of an integrated marketing communications strategy it remains an important method for not just communicating sales offers but also explaining news ideas. Third most important motivator for opening an e-mail cited by buyers was "An area I want to learn about."
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