Comments on: The Ruination of E-Mail Marketing

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:02:21 +0000

Thank you for this post Beth! I'm going to respond to every email I get that falls into this category with a link to this post. People need to start understanding how their "tactics" in both email and other SM platforms, are percieved by the individual (and that most of the SM savvy folks can already see right through it--like sending out a newsletter with the subscriber's name in the body of the email as though it were personalized. We all know that was a program and it's insulting to feign a relationship and understanding of a connection/discussion that wasn't there). Dawn’s last blog post..I want to be an Amazon Princess…

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:00:35 +0000

@OrangeTiki, thanks for an inside view! And trust me, my friend, I’ve been in your shoes. Not jumping to hate here… in fact, I think e-mail marketing can be very successful. The key is to add value. I’d venture a guess that companies who ‘crack the whip’ aren’t really looking for long-term customer sustainability anyway…they are just looking for short-term leads to fill the sales pipeline. Advice…if you know you are in a marketing position where the company just doesn’t get the value of respecting a potential prospect or customer and their time…move on or try to help fix the problem with internal education.

@HeatherRast, ah, the old bait tactic. I have been an advocate for years to give away collateral, white papers, etc. If the content provides value, the person on the other end will eventually pick up the phone and want to learn more. The process you described just results in unqualified leads (if any, most people just walk away) from the likes of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. (For those not getting Mickey & Donald…end users aren’t stupid. They know you are going to call or e-mail the minute you get their real name, phone number and e-mail…so they outsmart you with fake information.)

@DonLafferty, I don’t think that mass e-mail marketing works. That said, targeted, opt-in e-mails to the masses does…there’s a difference. Amazon, MarketingProfs, Wine Library (and I am sure there are a bunch more!) have been totally effective with their efforts.
As for direct mail, I’d really wish all those credit card offers would stop. They are annoying and I can only imagine how much budget is wasted…not to mention trees.

By: Don Lafferty

Don Lafferty — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:09:15 +0000

There will always be a segment of the [digital] marketing community using mass mailings simply for the numbers – because it works.

I use the term “digital”, but you can fill in the blank with any type of delivery method you want to. The concept is the same. If you’re banking on 0.1% success, and your campaign is targeting 1000 new customers, the mass mailer’s work is clear. And an email box is no more sacrosanct than the mailbox at the end of my driveway.

So I guess it really depends on what you’re selling. AND what you’re buying.

I don’t mind being spammed via snail mail by my local grocery stores and pharmacies, mattress retailers and brake specialists because while I frequently trash [delete] their stuff, when the planets align and I finally have a need, I know all I have to do is wait a week, and I’ll have all the best deals delivered right to my mailbox.

By: Use Social Media to Connect with Your Customers « Strategic Social Media

Use Social Media to Connect with Your Customers « Strategic Social Media — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:53:11 +0000

[...] Just using these mediums to spread a tired, one-directional message won’t get you anywhere (see Beth Harte’s blog post about why email marketing doesn’t work) but instead you must employ these tools to build [...]

By: Heather Rast

Heather Rast — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:47:21 +0000

Beth, thank you for a thoroughly considered and comprehensive post. I've never been directly involved with email marketing (planning, executing, measuring), but have worked alongside others who did and of course, been on the receiving end both as a general consumer and trade consumer. I seem to consistently be thwarted from accessing "free" reports and information that indeed require sign up in order to reach. That's followed inevitably by an email and often a sales call. I think it's disingenuous tactic to acquire contact info under the guise of gratis content--and usually that content isn't high-quality, anyway. So I'm becoming more skeptical and frankly deleting items from my In box without even reading (which goes against my nature!) because I'm overburdened with messages I didn't explicitly ask for. Why do these companies persist in their tactics if presumably others feel and behave as I do? Argh. Heather Rast’s last blog post..I Win/You Win: Finding Balance In Business Relationships