Email marketing is not dead. If you’re not using it, you’re losing.
In fact, I don’t think anything is ever dead. Some things aren’t as valuable as they used to be. But the ironic thing is that I actually think email is a VERY strong platform at the moment. We all need to market in the year we live in. So right now, email is a killer app. Now, are open rates at eighty percent like I had in 1997? Absolutely not. But is it relevant? 100%. And I’ll give you some email marketing tips now. It just comes down to the same old game that I preach in social, which is: are you delivering quality content?
Email is all about delivering on promises. Setting up that promise is a huge part of email marketing. Why? Because people are less hesitant to jump in if they feel like they already know what they’re jumping into. In the early days of email, people would just sign up without thinking twice; it was the thing to do. It’s similar to what happened with brands in the early Facebook days. You just liked things. We don’t do that anymore. Once you understand that marketers have ruined it, you’re a little bit more careful with that like button and email sign up. But we still do it in droves. They key is the upfront promise, and then the actual delivery on that promise. If you promise amazing, exclusive content and you deliver, you’ll keep intrigue high.
As a matter of fact, I don’t think I’ve been doing a good enough job. One of my biggest agendas in 2015 is to make email content for my VIPs stronger. I want to deliver more ACCESS. Not just things to be aware of, but actually creating many different bullet points of exclusive content. I promise it on my sign up now, and I’m going to deliver on that.
There is also massive benefit to email that not everyone realizes. Email is your own list and you control it. There is no organic drop. You’re in control of the creative. The delivery is agnostic, thus allowing you to market it at scale without being affected by the platform. Even when Google creates a promotions tab in the inbox, your distribution will always be controlled by you. It is it’s own channel that you control without being at the mercy of all these other platforms.
Now, the bigger picture.
Do I think email will matter in three to five years? For sure. It’s in play, it’s a channel, it’s not going anywhere. But do I think it’s going to become more or less valuable as a marketing engine? My answer is LESS valuable. It will still be very valuable because it’s one of the best channels, but it will be less valuable.
That whole marketers ruin everything line that I use all the time? That’s what this is all about. Platforms come along. They have value. And then we market against them and consumers push off. It’s cops and robbers, cat and mouse, over and over and over. We’re living in a process right now, the second decade of email, being ruined by marketers.
