The five top trends that are shaping the practice of email marketing have been revealed on the back of a new report.
The Email Breakthrough Report 0309 from online marketing provider, StrongMail, aims to provides email marketers with a valuable resource and benchmark for evaluating their own campaigns.
Findings include that Social media has exploded onto the email marketing scene.
Tactics range from using email to grow a brand’s presence on Facebook or Twitter, to integrating social sharing to increase the reach of a given offer or campaign.
Marketers have realised that leveraging the two channels together offers a powerful and natural synergy that can exponentially increase campaign performance.
User-generated content is a popular tactic used by B2C websites to increase stickiness and drive revenue. User-generated reviews in email campaigns, incentivising readers to click through and validating purchase decisions.
“This is an easy, yet powerful tactic that is ideal for brands that already feature reviews on their websites,” adds the report.
Next-Generation Referral Programs were also identified as playing a key role.
Many email industry pundits like to ponder whether “forward to a friend” is dead. If that was ever the case, it appears to have been born again. Social media has ushered in a new generation of referral technologies that enable consumers to share via email, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other popular social net¬works.
Sometimes less is more, with the recommended use of simple, concise Messages in email marketing. A single message, presented it in a concise and compelling manor with a central, visual call to action can really deliver.
“When an email marketing campaign has a very specific goal, consider adopting this approach for maximum effectiveness,” the report advises.
Finally, a compelling subject line is one of the most important components of an email marketing campaign, because its success determines whether or not the email is actually opened and read.
Without a good subject line, all of the thought¬ful work surrounding creative and calls to action are irrelevant.
"Email marketers are continuing to innovate and drive even more value from their programs,” said vice president of strategic services and market development at StrongMail Systems, Ryan Deutsch.
“The Q3 2009 Email Breakthrough Report brings much deserved attention to some of the more effective trends being adopted today, such as incorporating user-generated content and leveraging the power of social media.”
He added, "The high ROI of email marketing is causing it to get a lot of attention in today's economy, and the best practices outlined in this report will help make sure the added investment is well spent."
AJR