Cullmann Design Blog

In the past 2 years, there has been a tremendous push to move messaging and advertising to social media. Whether FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, every market has it’s niche and ad agencies have gotten proficient at targeting groups within these networks. While social media marketing was maturing, there was (and still is) a trend in dismissing e-mail marketing. With relatively low click-through rates, competition with SPAM, difficulty in delivering branding elements in many e-mail clients, it had become easy to cast off for the more attractive and exciting new arrival: social media.

Verification

Despite a dip in popularity, e-Mail is still a force to be reckoned with for communicating with customers. Regardless of audience, e-Mail is still one of the few ways outside of a closed-wall eco-system like Apple or FaceBook, that a marketer has to “verify” identity or ownership of credentials. One field of any online transaction of information is ALWAYS e-mail. A savvy marketer will verify the e-mail address with a call-to-action confirmation as quickly as possible to confirm that the email can reliably be associated with a particular identity. Next to credit card information, this is a very easy and convenient way to apply a small amount of accountability to an online user. The process of having users “opt-in” and define the terms that they would like to be communicated with is important and based on metrics, e-Mail is still the most popular method for online CRM and brand-building communications.

Call To Action & Response

E-Mail offers users an expected behavior that is comfortable for them. A well-designed e-mail program will have a clear “From” identifier, visible before even opening the e-Mail, a subject line declaring the main intent of the message and the message (usually with several call-to-actions). User are familiar and typically follow a pattern of behavior if you structure your e-Mails with consistent design and language. This is where e-Mail excels: While social media channels are still working towards how to handle unique customer response and moving users from the gated sanctuary of a particular social network, e-Mail delivers a personalized medium with the ability for a unique call-to-action. All of this can be done addressing the users as an individual, tailoring content and offering an end-to-end dialogue. E-Mail’s ubiquitous nature allows this to be done across any platform or device (including mobile).

Reach & Audience

One of first and still the most common method of communication on the internet, e-Mail offers the widest audience. A majority of web users claim more than one active e-Mail address1, many having several. There is also a wave of adoption for new audiences. AARP has recently released data showing that seniors are the fasting growing group of adopters2 of e-Mail. Those in emerging markets overseas also represent a growing population of e-Mail users. There is a simplicity and approachability that makes it attractive to new web users and bullet-proof to web veterans. There are several complications when dealing with e-Mail as well. e-Mail is a communication channel protected in the US by federal law. The manner in which you engage your customers (or recipients) must adhere to the US CAN-SPAM Act. Although it’s a simple criteria to adhere to, not observing the standards set by this policy will likely land you in your reader’s junk-mail file.

Privacy (sort of)

Although E-Mail is far from a secure medium, it does offer several advantages over social media, SMS and several other hot advertising mediums. A marketer and e-Mail recipient can both expect that the contents of an e-Mail message will not be seen by dozens of their friends, other customers or competitors. Additionally, this same channel can be acted upon with an expectation that the action will be equally as private. This may seem like a small nuance, but if you are someone buying a present for a loved one, accessing banking information or even making a mundane request from the post-office, you can expect that the exchange is limited to the addressed parties.

Equally important, a user can respond via e-mail without a character limitation, or concern that there will be additional charges on their bill for the communication. These are both issues facing SMS marketing and communication. Although immediate, it is a concern to those not familiar with texting and it’s protocols.

Cheering The Underdog

I am a believer in e-Mail marketing. I don’t think it is a silver bullet or the only solution for marketers, but rather, a tortoise in the proverbial race with the hair. Currently, the role of the hair is played by social media and SMS marketing. I think both of these have a place. I also believe there are many cases where social media marketing is a run-away winner. The power of e-Mail marketing is in it’s familiarity and direct nature. It offers strong ROI and is easy to measure both success and failure. For the average person, e-Mail is approaching 15 years old. Even if you’re not measuring your time in “internet years”, it has come into it’s maturity.

Before you pass-off your next opportunity to pitch an e-Mail marketing plan to a client, ask your self about the message and audience. The solution may be easier and more traditional than you may have thought.

You want more?
Check out MailChimp and CampaignMonitor for great tools to launch your campaign. If you want to learn more about who is opening and how frequently messages are read, check out MailerMailer’s metrics report from 2009.

A recent study from Nielsen shows that more than half of television viewers are engaged in another media consumption activity while taking in their favorite programming. Nielsen’s study, The Three Screens Report, was created specifically to capture data about usage behavior in our living rooms. The report is a painting of how media is changing and how the adoption of our phones, computers and hybrid devices is changing the way that we interact with one another and media. Nielsen’s Three Screens Report goes back to 2009 and even this small period of time, it’s easy to see a shift in behavior.

Surprising is that the multi-channel consumption is not limited, or even led, by a particular demographic. Mobile video consumption for instance, is led by 25-34 year-olds. and that consumption drops 10-15% for users not-yet 20 years old. Also surprising is that although younger audiences consume more media (in time spent), a more mature demographic (24-35 year-olds) spend their time using many channels simulatiously. The Nielsen study does not go into specific details regarding the content of what is consumed, but should still be taken seriously by those who create content for prime-time viewing as well as content on-demand and web media.

From a media-professional perspective, understanding that your messaging and imagery is competing with several different stimuli at a given time. The tactics that you must employ are becoming more and more fragmented as well. Web content should be scannable, clean and broken out into digestible portions. Apps should be designed to keep your place within content and preserve the last “state” if the device goes dormant or is exited. Television content, especially commercials, should be fast and attention getting. Also, branding should not be visual alone as users may be looking away from the screen (especially during commercial breaks).

The Nielsen report is a fantastic benchmark for media producers. Not only does it provide support for what we all know-all-to-well to be typical behavior, but it also shows demographic information that is surprising. The report covers the first quarter of 2010 and the data, when compared with the previous year’s reflects the emergence of new devices and mobile network capabilities. The survey period ends before the release of the Apple’s iPad, which may further tilt the statistic towards multi-channel and mobile media consumption. The iPad, Google Android and several other consumer oriented mobile media devices are creating a new category of info-tainment that makes every minute, every commercial break and every morsel of downtime an opportunity to see a short-format video or catch a quick-laugh on YouTube. The trick is to become THAT content that captures user’s attention.

The mobile marketing is expanding exponentially: 17% of mobile phones sold are smartphones according to a Forrester Research survey. That 17%, make up over half of cellular data traffic transmitted by US carriers. As a web developer and designer, it’s very important that the work I create for my clients as well s my own work is accessible to users regardless of how they are accessing content.

Although I am a huge proponent for web-standards and accessible design, sometimes, I’m glad to have a little help. Enter WordPress Mobile Edition. This WP plug-in is a theme designed to make your WP blog a pleasurable experience for mobile users, regardless of platform. It’s free, easy to install and from my tests seems to work on a wide range of mobile devices. You can download it from CrowdFavorite.