Is E-mail A Dying Marketing Tool?

Spurred by statistics that show e-mail usage has decreased in the last few years, some digital pundits predict that mobile phones and social media will make e-mail obsolete.  I believe that couldn’t be further from the truth for marketing.
 
Marketing studies show that e-mail remains one of the most effective sales tools and that consumers prefer to get offers by e-mail.  Also, e-mail marketing budgets continue to increase and now account for 19% of the average online marketing budget.

So, why is e-mail usage slipping?  According to Patricio Robles, writing for Econsultancy:

• “New communications channels have given individuals the ability to communicate more efficiently.  Thanks to SMS, Facebook, Twitter, et. al., internet users don’t’ have to send an e-mail when another channel is better-suited to deliver a particular kind of message.  In other words, e-mail doesn’t have a monopoly on digital communications.  Needless to say, that’s a good thing.
• “New communications channels have created more opportunities for communication.  Messages that may not have been sent previously are now being sent because the right kinds of tools exist.  Take status updates, for instance.  Chances are the vast majority of status updates sent via Facebook and Twitter never would have been sent via e-mail.

“Both of these are actually good for e-mail.  Instead of treating digital communications like a nail for which the hammer is the only tool worth using, e-mail is now just one tool that can be used where appropriate.  That means a lot less noise, and a lot more focus.”

This echoes a point I’ve been making for awhile:  The most successful marketing now uses multiple channels of media to create a variety of touch points with the customer.  And e-mail is a very useful channel.

Besides being pervasive and easy to use, e-mail marketing provides the following benefits:

• It’s inexpensive, allowing you to distribute information to a broad audience at a relatively low cost.
• The back and forth potential of e-mail can improve one-to-one relationships with customers, the essence of brand-building.
• You can market anywhere because e-mail works worldwide.
• Delivery time is short, measured in seconds or minutes.
• E-mail results can be tracked easily through a number of tracking devices available both free and for a fee.
• E-mail users check their mail boxes constantly, ensuring your message gets through.
• You can rapidly conduct and tabulate audience surveys, using e-mail questionnaires.
• It allows you to distribute time-sensitive information, e.g., about new products or sales promotions.
• You can distribute key information to a variety of audiences – employees, stockholders, reporters, members, etc.

Of course, e-mail has its drawbacks, mainly the proliferation of SPAM, those unsolicited e-mails that clog your inbox.  But in the long run, for the marketer, the benefits of e-mail far outweigh the negatives.  So e-mail remains alive and well as a marketing tool.

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