The Email Wars

Stefan Pollard, Director of Consulting Services, EmailLabs

1. What is in store for large BRAND marketing using email and what opportunities and challenges exist for major brands?
Most major brands will continue to move slowly and attempt to go for reach and quantity over segmentation and quality. There simply isn’t enough mindshare with major brands for them to devote serious attention to the proper use of email as a communication channel vs. a broadcast medium. Consumers will continue to tire of “this weeks ad specials” and engagement levels will continue to decline.

Delivery will continue to be the major challenge as ISP’s place increased restrictions on large volumes of non-responsive email and reputation factors driven by consumer complaints. Eventually the downward pressure of delivery and decreased success will drive the marketer to seek professional help (consultants, agencies, educational webinars or conferences).

Some more progressive brands will continue to incorporate web analytics into their email programs and develop improved auto-responder campaigns that move beyond the transactional recipient or abandoned shopping cart.

2. What should small to mid size businesses be doing to make their programs more successful and what resources should they dedicate to it?

This group is more flexible and has tighter budgets. Small changes in performance are much more quickly noticed and gain higher priority attention. As such, the move to more integrated programs with Blogs, RSS, and Email all working together appeals greatly to this group.

Challenges come from the pressure to grow quickly – usually forcing mistakes by assuming permission, purchasing lists, bad co-registration partners, etc.

3. How will consumers have mind shift to email campaigns and subscriptions as they become more astute as consumers and are more conditioned to email they get?

Consumers will continue to experience inbox overload and continue to be discriminating over what belongs in their inbox. More tools for filtering or blocking, including disposable email addresses will increase consumer control. Inbox placement is a privilege that will be bestowed on only the most relevant and desired messages.

More “alert” style messages will be received both in inboxes and on mobile clients that drive the consumer out of the email client and back into the web interface of their favorite social network.

4. How will technology change for marketers?
Use the e-mail marketing platform as the basis for an interactive company – stressing a complete digital dialog that blends channels together with better integration. Shameless plug for our newly launched HQ product goes here.

No more will email be a stand alone tool, it will work seamlessly with CMS tools, SEO, Web Analytics, RSS, etc. Allowing the average marketer to better understand the “digital dialogue” and talk with consumers in the platform of their choice.

5. How will technology change for consumers?
ISP and email clients will continue to create more advertising opportunities, while providing the consumer the ability to control who they wish to let advertise to them. More education will be stressed over how to recognize wanted information from unwanted and how to filter it. Conversations will not stay in the inbox, but rather move seamlessly between web, client, phone. More multi-channel options will be provided for consumers.