A post from NetProspex CEO, Gary Halliwell.
Loren McDonald of emailInsider recently wrote of the coming of age of B2B email.
“B2B marketers are catching up to their B2C colleagues and, in many cases, surpassing them with the breadth and depth of their email marketing programs. They're finding ways to deliver greater utility and value without risking channel burnout,”
I concur. It has to evolve, otherwise it won’t survive.
The recession has moved many large companies to add “opt-out” email campaigns to their marketing mix. Outbound marketing is still is a cost-effective lever that can be pulled when buyers become a little shy. It’s cheap, it’s effective and by golly, recipients find it useful if it’s done right.
Conversely, I think “opt-in” email, from rented publisher lists or internal customer lists is showing signs of going the way of the dodo, for the simple fact that none of us can remember what websites we have registered at over the years, and if a message is targeted and relevant and helps me improve my business, I’d be remiss in not taking notice.
A large element of B2B email marketing has gone “educational”…that is, it provides useful information in the form of webinars, recent research, videos or tips and tricks to improve efficiencies. What we’re seeing less of is the corporate newsletter that is about as readable and as welcome as used bathroom tissue. Special offers used to be a big thing also…and we’ve all tuned them out already, if spam filters haven’t gotten to them first. It used to be said in B2B marketing that this type of drip email was great for brand-building. I doubt it. There’s nothing worth my attention in a newsletter or special offer I never open. What does work is short, concise, business oriented email that lets me know of a useful resource or knowledge.
At a fundamental level, I think we can safely assume electronic communication between business people is not going away anytime soon, but that email will simply be subject to the laws of natural selection. The stuff people find useful will continue to morph and become even more valuable. The rest will die off.
Being able to sign up for high-quality, free, educational or insightful information on how to use the myriad of tools out there is a fantastic resource. The business world changes all the time, and there’s always lots of great ideas and products that can help our businesses become more efficient. Bad (read: useless) email will end up marked as SPAM or not read by users, and SPAM software will take over the rest, even if it is from a vendor you have a relationship with. The useful stuff will stay in circulation.
Email will move towards the light. It has to, or it won’t last as a marketing medium. It’s clear that the marketing messages that are targeted, relevant, and useful, are those that will survive.
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Gary is the co-founder and CEO of NetProspex, Inc.
garyh@netprospex.com
He spent 14 years building online publishing companies, and began his career as a diamond prospector, working in remote areas of the African bush, before finding his current niche in online publishing. See more at the NetProspex website.
