Inbox Insider: E-mail shines in recession
For marketers the economy is a tough time. Retailers, news papers, ad agencies, auto sellers and so on have all been experiencing layoffs and cutbacks in spending. So it is no wonder that marketers are looking to cost efficient, measurable e-mails like e-mail during these tough times.And it seems to be helping the e-mail industry. It is one of the industries that I keep hearing about growth instead of cutbacks, hiring instead of firing. In the last week, ExactTarget reported a doubling in its revenue in 2008 from 2007, Datran Media announced restructuring plans to grow its business to a larger scale and Experian's CheetahMail set up a new Strategic Services group that helps marketers focus specifically on building an e-mail strategy.
Even though the channel has been around for some time and is not a hot new channel the way that social media and mobile are, it is really blossoming these days. And why not? It is a really efficient way brands to connect directly to consumers on a one-to-one basis. Since bigger brands are getting more deeply into it, the industry seems to be blossoming with higher expectations and standards of execution.
After all, now that everyone is doing it and consumers are overwhelmed with e-mail, brands have to be savvy about how they use the channel.
