Email Never Went Anywhere

It seems like at least once a week I read a really well-written and well-thought-out article or blog post about how “email/email marketing is back” or that suddenly interest is surging in the “what once was old” medium of communication. I’m here to reassure everyone that not only is email not dead – it also never went anywhere.

Sure, social media has been the darling of all online marketing communications for the last seven years or so, but I personally cannot remember a single instance where I’ve seen the use of Facebook or Twitter alone out-perform the use of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign that included email. As any marketing professional will tell you, it’s highly unlikely that anything you produce will ever go “viral” and even when things go viral, they’re still often shared via the original social media channel: email.

As Facebook continues to limit what shows up in users’ feeds, the ability to actually communicate directly to users who have expressed an interest in our products and services without fear of a filter will continue to prevail. Who wants to spend their hard-earned time and investment to build an audience they aren’t guaranteed of being able to communicate with?

While the currently under-25 crowd may not be strong users of email, I believe that trend changes as they become career professionals, where the modern workplace still depends heavily on the use of email as the primary form of communication.

I’m proud to say that consistent, well-branded email marketing has always been a staple product and service provided by Raleighwood Media Group to our clients. It has a high ROI and is very trackable when it comes to finding out what’s working and what’s not in regards to subject lines, content, list segmentation, and other variables.

For your reading pleasure and if you’re so inclined, here are some of the articles I’ve read about email (and the “return” of email) lately… and often replied with the simple statement, “duh”.
The NY Times – For Email Newsletters, a Death Greatly Exaggerated
BiZReport.com – Email newsletters top news source for business executives
EmailOnAcid.com – Is Responsive Design Really Effective?

I would love to hear your thoughts on where you’re getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to online marketing efforts in the comments below.

Cheers!
–Lisa

Missed the February Social Media Seminar?

Did you miss the February 2nd Shop Local Raleigh social media seminar? We certainly missed you, but I’ve provided the information shared in that event below so that you can study up on social media and how it positively impact your marketing plans.

Presentation Files:

https://raleighwoodmedia.com/files/slr_marketing_seminar_2011_02_02.ppt (PowerPoint Format)
https://raleighwoodmedia.com/files/slr_marketing_seminar_2011_02_02.pdf (PDF Format)

My friend Greg – facilitator, educator, rhythmatist, Trained HealthRHYTHMS Facilitator, and founder of Shop Local Raleigh member business Drum for Change – asked if I could share these resources with him for an upcoming industry conference. I told him that “I am an open book” and would be happy to share this information as a resource for him and his group and also provided the following “talking points” (below) from the presentation (which I went back and added after the presentation, because if you’ve ever attended an event with me, you know I’m an “off-the-cuff” girl and like to let the audience and their questions about a topic steer our conversation). I thought it would be helpful to share here on the Raleighwood blog, too – for everyone’s benefit!

Talking Points:

Slide 3 – The AMA (American Marketing Association) board is comprised of working marketing professionals, so I feel this definition more accurately describes the business of marketing than the typical dictionary definition.

Slide 5 – As overused as the phrase “social media is a two-way conversation” is, it’s true! Businesses that only promote their businesses, but don’t take the opportunity to engage with their audience, are not going to benefit from the time and effort required to nurture this form of communication.

Slide 6 – BIG takeaway: DO NOT MAKE A PERSONAL PROFILE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Make a PAGE. There is a difference. Signup at facebook.com/pages. Have a personal profile so you can understand how it works from the personal user perspective, but create a page for your business/brand/organization. A vanity URL is a short, personalized URL like http://www.facebook.com/raleighwood – this is the same as telling people what your website address is exactly so they can come right to you instead of telling them to “google you”, where your competitors could snatch up their attention, instead.

Slide 8 – Remember that twitter is a unique network in itself. You don’t want to have to Twitter profile for your brand and only populate it through your facebook activity. You won’t get very many followers if you’re not offering unique information to that audience separately. You’ll also be “blind” to the responses you get on Twitter if you never actually use twitter to engage your audience there, as well. (IE: They’re not going to go to your facebook page to leave you a comment, they’re going to do it on twitter and you will likely miss it.)

Slides 10 and 11 – I LOVE iContact.com for an email service provider. They are local to Durham, NC – as is Bronto.com. MailChimp.com is free as long as your list is under 1,000 subscribers.

Slide 12AllFacebook.com and Mashable.com are two nice resources for staying up to date on social media happenings and changes. They can be overwhelming due to the frequency of their content and updates, so I just check in once a month or so 🙂

Have any questions about this event? Feel free to ask! I hope to see you at the next Shop Local Raleigh seminar and will be sure to post details here when that event is confirmed!

Cheers,
Lisa