May 12, 2008

While many questions are currently being raised about whether eMail marketing can remain an effective marketing channel given the large amount of spam invading people's in-boxes, spending on the channel continues to increase nevertheless. So the question is, will it continue to do so, and if so, for how long?

To be sure, some email marketing companies have embraced Google Adwords. One such company is Bronto Software. Durham, North Carolina-based Bronto has undoubtedly benefited from the rise of the on-demand software model, with potential customers who once may have shied away from the model no longer considering it a novelty thanks to the success of companies such as Salesforce.com.

DJ Waldow, Bronto's client account manager and one of the first five employees at Bronto said "today, there's quite a bit of excitement around e-mail marketing and taking it to the next level of sophistication should keep some people busy for at least the next two years or so."

A key differentiator for Bronto is the work it has done with its clients, helping to keep them up to date on important industry changes and advances in ad serving technology.

Overall, Waldow credits the fact that companies in the space are now publicly traded, with raising the profile of the industry. "The online marketing community as a whole is realizing that there are techniques and approaches that can raise e-mail to the next level," he added.

In recent months, the overall level of sophistication among even smaller and medium-sized e-tailers has risen sharply. Bronto works to be viewed as a thought-leader and participant in the larger discussion around e-mail marketing, using blogs to interact with customers, many of whom are marketing departments that are eagerly learning about the emerging trends within email.

Waldow added "our goal is to make them better Internet marketers. He said he often spends a full day with a customer, going over campaigns to discuss what worked well and what could be improved."

Amy Black, president of interactive marketing firm DigitalFX said that "on average, Web marketers are basically aware of the risks that in-box clutter pose and the increasing need to find better ways to stand out from the crowd."

While the widespread debate over the effectiveness of email marketing in general continues, one area where it has proven effective and where investment in the channel is expected to remain strong as a result is within the eCommerce segment.

On a recent survey performed by Forrester Research, about 92.1 percent of online merchants said they used email marketing to reach their own customers and of those, a little bit less than 93.5 percent said they planned to make that channel a higher priority in 2008.

Some observers say that email marketing is commonplace, and unless something makes it stand out, it's often ignored, if not outright dreaded by recipients.

While e-mail marketing still works, consumers are increasingly demanding that ads be relevant, said eMarketer analyst David Hallerman. He noted that recent consumer surveys showed that half of online buyers had made purchased based on e-mail marketing.

That may mean being timed perfectly for a buyer or that the message contains a compelling offer, Hallerman said.

Because what merchants think is relevant and what a consumer finds relevant may be different things, accurate tracking campaigns to see what triggers purchases is an important part of any e-mail marketing program.

Today's email marketing landscape continues to evolve and with less attention on the e-mail and more on the marketing part of the equation.

Spam awareness campaigns have also driven marketers to embrace solutions that address those issues positively.

"These challenges have led more marketers to move from in-house solutions to e-mail service providers to pull from their expertise to increase their in-box deliverability for their e-mail marketing campaigns," Hallerman added.

Source: Forrester Research