One of the most memorable quotes about customer relationships I have read in recent years comes from The Elusive Fan by Irving Rein, Philip Kotler, and Ben Shields. In the book, the authors make a point that sports fans today are easier to reach but harder to engage than ever before. We have an abundance of tools to connect with a target audience. While getting to an audience is crucial, getting through to them to achieve desired results is proving to be far more challenging.

This characteristic of easier to reach, harder to engage is not limited to sports fans. Businesses in virtually every industry can say the same about their customers. New options for communicating with customers continue to emerge. The evolution of communication channels has the unfortunate effect of further fragmenting audiences. Thus, creating meaningful customer engagement that meets business objectives has become more challenging.

The Staying Power of Email

One communication channel that seemed to face an uncertain future is email. The strength of permission marketing via opt-in email was offset by problems including message overload, irrelevant messages, and an image crisis caused by spam, phishing, and Nigerian princes seeking to get into your wallet. Surprisingly, email has overcome these challenges to become a marketing star.

When it comes to delivering results, marketers are bullish on email. Digital marketing firm Econsultancy surveyed over 300 marketers in its annual Email Marketing Census last spring. When asked to rate different communication channels in terms of return on investment, email won going away.

Although channels like social media and mobile are like sleek, shiny toys, they do not deliver results on par with email according to marketers surveyed.

The Three Ts of Email Marketing

Why is email a cut above all other communication channels in marketers’ eyes? The answer is in three characteristics email possesses that set it apart from SEO, content marketing, and other channels included in the survey question. You could call these characteristics the “Three Ts”: targeting, timeliness, and track-able. It’s not that the other channels are devoid of these traits, but email tends to deliver against them more consistently.

• Targeting. Compiling email subscribers’ demographics, coupled with buyer behavior in the form of purchase history, enables sending communication to the right audience. The cleverest creative or unbelievably attractive offer does not matter much if they are not in tune with audience desires.
• Timeliness. Email is a flexible channel for creating and sending messages quickly to take advantage of marketing opportunities. A school holiday could be the catalyst for a restaurant’s email campaign to entice family visits.
• Track-able. The days of “half my advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half” are gone. Tools to track marketing performance no longer give us a pass to spend and hope for the best. Email offers many metrics that shed light on how well (or poorly) a campaign performs.

No Offense, Mobile

One surprising result from the Email Marketing Census is the perceived ineffectiveness of mobile marketing. Only four percent of marketers surveyed said mobile was excellent for delivering ROI, tied for last with online display advertising (ouch!). Mobile possesses the three Ts of targeting, timeliness, and track-able, too. Some mobile marketing advocates bristled at the findings of the Econsultancy survey, suggesting that marketers’ attachment to email was based on outdated thinking.

Why would mobile rate so low on marketers’ list of channels ability to deliver ROI? One reason could be many of these same marketers are still trying to figure out how to make mobile work for them. An encouraging sign is email design for mobile is gaining in importance. A survey of retailers last fall found using mobile-optimized design was the top email marketing tactic used (64% reported adopting the tactic).

This statistic, along with recognition of that mobile has become the number one platform for checking email, will undoubtedly boost marketers’ motivation to become more adept at mobile marketing. Going forward, email and mobile should be viewed less as competing channels in favor of a complementary view.

 Email is an inexpensive marketing channel for sending targeted messages. Another strength of email is that it can be used to meet a variety of marketing objectives – creating awareness for a new product, building brand or corporate image, and of course, generating sales. Permission-based marketing is one of the most important innovations in the marketing industry in the last fifteen years. While email marketing offers many advantages, work remains to be done to make email a more meaningful communication channel for buyers.

A recent study by Epsilon and the Email Institute reveals that there is great opportunity for email marketers to improve their efforts to engage people in their opt-in programs. Inactive subscribers, people who join an email list but do not open or click through messages, make up a large segment in the typical email program. Two pieces of evidence are:

1. 66% of new subscribers to email lists had no opens or clicks in the previous quarter.
2. 49% of long-time subscribers were inactive for the previous 12 months

 The latter stat on long-term relationship deterioration is not too surprising. After all, our interests change, particularly as we are exposed to new brands and options. But, if two-thirds of those people who sign up to receive communication never open the messages, the impact that email marketing is capable of attaining will not be realized.

 The results of the Epsilon study should be taken as a challenge by email marketers to close the engagement gap. Unlike other media that is characterized by audiences avoiding marketing messages, the concept of permission-based email is based on the audience saying “I want to hear from you.” It is up to marketers to make communications compelling so that messages are worth the recipient’s time to open. Among ways to increase relevance are:

1. Do not overdo it! One of the main reasons people opt out of permission email programs is that they tire of frequent messages.
2. Be timely – Triggered emails, or communication spurred by a particular behavior, have the effect of serving as a nudge or prompt to action. Examples include a welcome email containing an offer for new members and e-commerce triggered emails that follow up on abandoned shopping carts are two examples of interacting with people at very different stages of the buying process.
3. Be relevant – I cringe when I hear marketers talk about email “blasts” – as a consumer, do you want to be blasted? Relevance is correlated with #1; email messages can be personalized to a person’s characteristics and tailored to appeal to their interests. Avoid thinking of email as merely a cost-effective substitute to traditional mass media for broadcasting messages .

Email marketing is a valuable tool in the IMC toolkit for building relationships and spurring sales. Take on the challenge of narrowing the engagement gap in 2013 by employing a strategy of timely, relevant messaging… that is timely and relevant to customers, not your marketing priorities.

As a researcher and marketer, I like reading about studies related to marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to expanding my knowledge in these areas, sometimes I learn that I am normal, that my beliefs and behavior are in line with others. The latter feeling is what I experienced when I read about a study done by Blue Kangaroo on marketing emails.

Findings from a study of more than 1,000 adults on their opinions of marketing emails and how they respond to them reflected what I observe in my own inbox:

• Clutter – More than half of the emails received in a typical week come from marketers
• Enjoyment – Despite the clutter, people like getting marketing emails to keep up with offers and other news from marketers (43% agreed that they like getting these emails)
• Work, but Worthwhile – 48% said it sometimes feels like a chore to open and read marketing emails but that it is worth the effort
• Valuable – Most recipients are taking advantage of deals or coupons communicated via email; 35% had done it within the week prior to the survey and another 33% had taken advantage of an email marketing offer within the prior month.

Some marketing experts believe that increased social media usage will make email marketing less relevant in the future. In addition to people spending more time on social network sites, many people use the messaging functionality offered by networks like Facebook and Twitter as their email service. However, email still possesses the strengths of being able to deliver targeted, timely messages to people who have granted permission for the marketers to communicate with them.

The inbox is a crowded space. We need to be part of the in(box) crowd yet stand out at the same time. As is the case with many aspects of marketing, relevance is the key to fitting in and standing out simultaneously. Consumers want to receive and open email from marketers that is interesting and contains value for them- nothing complicated about that concept. The challenge is hitting on the right mix of interesting content, value-added offers or rewards, and the optimal frequency of message delivery.

I just ended a relationship. No, the break-up was not painful at all- it took only a couple of clicks and it was done. Now, I will no longer receive the almost daily emails you have showered me with recently. I like you, but your barrage of messages turned my impressions of you from a trusted source to seeing what you could extract from my wallet.

Why did I break up with you? Was it because you closed 2 out 3 stores in my area, making it harder for me to come visit? No, that did not factor into the break-up at all. I understood your need to leave. You had become too pushy, always wanting me to buy. Oh, you were nice and usually offered me a coupon. In the end, I felt sorry for you because you had to try to bribe me to be your friend. I know you are hurting right now, and that you need as many customers… I mean friends, as possible.

We have grown apart. It’s not you- it’s me. No wait, it is you. Perhaps you know it is you because when I left you asked me if it was because you sent me too many emails. Apparently, I am not the first to leave you under these circumstances. I wish you well, Borders- no hard feelings.

Permission-based email marketing is a valuable tool for connecting with customers and strengthening relationships. But, it is imperative that customers’ “space” be respected and not overwhelm them with email messages. Research shows that one of the main reasons consumers end permission email relationships is that the frequency of messages received is too high. Use email to deliver information and facilitate sales, but do not annoy customers to the point that they break up with you.

Permission marketing is one of the most useful tools in a marketer’s communication toolkit. People agree to receive e-mails from your company. Their consent potentially overcomes the message clutter barrier that can hamper otherwise well conceived promotion campaigns. What could possibly go wrong when we have one’s permission to send e-mails?

Getting consumers’ permission to send e-mail is one hurdle; sending messages with relevant and compelling content is another hurdle, one that is not always cleared. According to a survey by Epsilon and ROI Research, unsubscribing from opt-in e-mails is a problem facing marketers. Survey results found 55% of North American recipients of permission marketing messages unsubscribe occasionally, and 14% said they unsubscribe frequently. The reasons? Irrelevant content (67%) and too many e-mails sent (64%) were the top two. A third reason was concern that e-mail address was being sold or shared (50%).

These results provide a call for responsible use of e-mail among marketers. Permission entails an obligation not to abuse the privilege of e-mail communication with a customer or prospect. Just like a person who gets tuned out because they talk about irrelevant topics or talk too much, a company can become a nuisance by sending e-mails that are uninteresting or too frequent. Customer permission is a significant commitment to gain. Treat permission respectfully to minimize the possibility of unsubscribes to your permission-based list.

eMarketer: “Why E-Mail Subscribers Unsubscribe”