Email has changed the way marketing is done. It has given businesses a very efficient, fast and low cost marketing channel, allowing users to be more accessible.
This year, however, the trend is for blast emails to go down the drain, according to Chris Baggot of the Indianapolis-based developer of e-mail marketing solutions ExactTarget.
In a white paper on the top 9 email trends for 2005, Chris explained that “frequency becomes individually driven” and that marketers should remove the idea that emails should be sent on a pre-determined schedule (e.g. weekly or daily). Instead, customer requests and behaviors should dictate when to send subscribers an e-mail message (how exactly a marketer should know whether the customer is ready for the email or not is not explained in the paper).
Customer reaction to the email will also be dictated by the email’s relevance to their needs. Blast emails, by their very regularity, do not necessarily imply that the customer is receptive to the email message. Chris wrote that “as email clutters compete with every other kind of interruption marketing, customers are going to give their attention to those organizations that deserve it.”
To read the rest of the email trends, read ExactTarget’s white paper in PDF format (you may be asked to register and give your contact details – take note though: they will call you a few minutes or hours after you download the white paper for any questions you may have regarding their service).
