You see it all over the industry blogs - SMS is the next big thing and email is on its way out (blah blah blah). While I tend to agree that marketing is expanding to more interesting modes of delivery including SMS, RSS, and blogs, I think that each has their own sweet spot with readers but will never fully oust email. Adding these new channels to your marketing mix will certainly help ensure that you’re effectively reaching all of your readers according to their personal preferences. The trick is to know when to send what message via which medium.

For example, transactional messages such as bank or flight notifications are perfect for SMS because they’re needed at a time when a user may not have email or Web access. SMS is also good for timely alerts that would hold little or no value if read later. And it’s perfect for those last minute offers that are brief in nature, such as a 20% off coupon to a customer who just signed up for your credit card in-store - they can use it right there on the spot.

Blogs, on the other hand, are great for sharing articles and stories with readers in real time which they can peruse at their own leisure. Having a feed reader or aggregator allows you to receive the notes as they’re published but to read through them when you're ready - which could be as soon as they hit the feed or later when you're having your morning cup of coffee.

While email is well suited to various communications, they are best received when someone has time to sit down and read them. Email is a great vehicle for offers that can be printed out, are longer lasting, or for larger amounts of data such as newsletters.

With the expanding portfolio of delivery channels some may say it’s actually becoming easier for marketers to communicate with their customers. However, it does introduce more complexity - a topic that I will discuss further in my next post!

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