 Here's the good news: despite the rapidly changing digital marketing landscape, email will remain the hub that connects the disparate channels of social and mobile networks. So says The Relevancy Group's David Daniels, in his whitepaper, "The Reinvention of E-mail Marketing and the Future of Connected Marketing," recently released at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2010 (IRCE).
This is reassuring for email service providers, who have long been warned of "the death of email" and the imminent replacement of the medium by social networking channels. But while email will continue to play a central role in marketing communications going forward, ESPs must continue to innovate and evolve to become "connected marketing service providers" and marketers must consider their vendor selections carefully to ensure their vendors are meeting their needs in a cost-effective manner.
The Present Market Landscape
While the digital marketing explosion provides great opportunity, the disparate nature of these channels is causing much confusion among marketers.
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Emerging marketing channels (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) lack dedicated and/or consistent champions.
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Non-marketing functions have become a marketing responsibility.
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Industry consolidation extends the functionality of every marketing application, creating a dizzying array of choice.
Daniels' research finds that in order to manage and optimize subscribers, an integrated marketing approach must be taken through all four stages of the customer lifecycle: acquisition, retention, engagement and advocacy. Sophisticated marketers who take this approach require sophisticated email software programs that leverage data from social networks and/or website analytics to target subscribers, for example.
The Future: "Connected Marketing"
Email marketing will remain central to social media and mobile marketing activities, however marketers will have to take a sophisticated, holistic approach to be successful. The market segment will also need a new name that better reflects the job - Daniels uses "connected marketing" as his choice. The criteria used to evaluate "connected marketing" providers will shift as well. The whitepaper details vendor attributes that define this new market segment, reinforcing the point that those who take an integrated approach to their marketing efforts, and who understand the intersection of integration cost and value, will be more relevant, effective and successful.
So, Which Connected Marketing Vendor Should You Choose?
Well, that’s up to you of course, but Daniels' whitepaper lays out specific criteria marketers can use to calibrate their vendor selection process to guide their decision-making process. The whitepaper also includes a "vendor selection scorecard" you can use to rank perspective vendors.
Download The Relevancy Group's whitepaper:
View our on demand webcast in which David Daniels and I share 10 proven relevance-enhancing email tactics:
Check out these other FREE on demand webcasts for more tips on integrated marketing:
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About the Author
Blaine Mathieu is chief marketing officer for Lyris. Blaine is responsible for Lyris' brand and product strategy, including driving marketing initiatives for the company's Lyris HQ™ integrated-marketing suite and its Lyris ListManager™ email-marketing software.
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