Industrial Email Marketing is NOT Dead

One would think new marketing tactics such as social media and blogging would have killed good ol’ email marketing. That is simply not true. I am seeing manufacturers continue to use industrial email marketing with great success.

Sure, the old way of “batch-and-blast” email marketing is dead but in the words of Jon Miller (@jonmiller), VP Marketing & co-founder of Marketo, “Email marketing has simply evolved.”

I just read Marketo’s “The Definitive Guide to Engaging Email Marketing” that weighs in at a hefty 155 pages. The pages are chock full of valuable information and research data on email marketing. Here are a few findings that validate their claim, “Email matters more today than ever before.”

• 77% of customers prefer to receive permission-based marketing communications through email
• Email generates nearly a 2X return compared to other channels
• 64% of companies indicated their organizations’ investment in email marketing was expected to increase in 2013

It is always good to get a second opinion on important matters. Here’s a direct quote from BtoB Online, “With proven performance and an enduring presence in virtually every marketing campaign, email remains a reliable channel for b2b marketers, according to a new study by BtoB.”

All this good news doesn’t mean today’s email marketing isn’t facing some daunting challenges. Marketo’s guide lists a quite a few of them including the Economics of Attention, Opt-Out, Screen Out, Tune Out and Imprecise Metrics.

The number one challenge continues to be deliverability. Gmail’s recent tab redesign is causing lots of problems for some email marketers.

What can you do to ensure your emails get into your contacts’ Inboxes? Here’s a chart from MarketingSherpa’s research that shows answers to the question, “Which of the following tactics is your organization using to improve email deliverability rates?”

IMO, the key to successful email marketing today is a high degree of personalization. I am talking about going a lot further than just addressing the contact by his/her first name. Emails need to be developed with specific content and relevant offers that are based on job function, industry, site behavior and existing relationships.

I found this statement from one of ExactTarget’s blog posts, “The smart B2B marketers are personalizing their communication based on a prospect’s interests—using behavioral data and a whole new generation of online personalization technology.”

Think Marketing Automation to streamline this process. As I have written here before, any lead generation strategy without lead nurturing is dead in the water. I don’t see how an industrial company can do effective lead nurturing without email marketing.

You may also find some of my earlier posts about industrial email marketing helpful. I suggest these:

• Industrial Companies shouldn’t Replace Email Marketing with Social Media
• Industrial E-mail Marketing: Use Application Notes to Engage Engineers
• Boost Email Relevancy With Dynamic Content
• Making Industrial E-mail Marketing More Relevant

What has been your experience with industrial email marketing? Share your thoughts below.