Email trend for 2010: Integration
It’s the end of the year, and you know what that means: Prediction time!
The first prediction is this: Email isn’t going anywhere. In fact, we see email becoming more and more the foundation for countless messaging channels.
As we look forward to 2010, the big trend we see is integration, which is one reason why we’re so convinced email is only becoming more entrenched in how we market.
The idea of integration isn’t new to you. You’re already aware of the importance of integrating your email platform with your Web analytics and CRM…or at least you should be! But now the ability of your ESP to integrate across more platforms and technologies is becoming even more crucial.
It’s not just for show, either. Yes, it’s cool that you can integrate your email campaign with Twitter, but we’re not talking about bells and whistles. We’re talking about what we’re always talking about, email marketing ROI. Moving forward, integration is going to help deliverability and that always helps your ROI. But it’s also going to help you reach more people in a way they prefer, whether that’s Twitter or mobile or some yet-to-be-developed technology. And that ties back to another constant theme of ours: relevance.
Email is still the strongest messaging platform out there, despite cries of its demise. One characteristic that makes it so strong is the ubiquity of email. It is everywhere. And as technologies are developed, it integrates more and more with add-on services. And your ESP must keep pace to make sure that integration happens.
For example, CertifiedEmail from Goodmail is going to help your emails get into your recipient’s mailbox…but you must be able to use it with your ESP or inhouse email system. Similarly, Mailbox IQ is a revolutionary new Pivotal Veracity service that gives you unprecedented insight into how your recipients engage with—or ignore—your emails. And you’re going to need that information to avoid being labeled spam as major ISPs start to use that same insight when deciding whether or not to let you through to the inbox in the first place. These are the types of third-party tools and technologies you’ll want to be able to access via your ESP if at all possible.
Email still reigns supreme as a marketing tool, but to keep pace with the rapidly changing world of technology and cultural expectations, it must integrate with social networking tools as well. That’s the only way you can hope to communicate with all audiences, as some stay with email for communication and others move to social media. You’ll want your ESP to offer social network functionality and integration so you can allow subscribers to share your email newsletter with their social network such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter, for example. And don’t forget to encourage email signups at your social network pages.
The end of the year is also the time to take a critical look at your current ESP or in-house email platform. Knowing the email marketing landscape will change in 2010, will your ESP be able to meet your needs in the coming year? When you’re reading the December 2010 issue of this newsletter, will you still be happy with your ESP and your ability to integrate your email platform to the technologies and tools that are necessary for email marketing success?
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MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2010
Through extensive marketplace research, the MarketingSherpa team has identified the top 7 challenges that email marketers face each and every day. This year's Email Summit '10 is designed to equip attendees with proven tools, tips and strategies to conquer these challenges.
*Visit us at booth #23
January 20-22, 2010
Save BIG with the ClickMail Marketing Discount |
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