E-mail Trends Midyear Report

Flexible mailing frequencies and event-driven messaging were among the e-mail trends Chris Baggott, chief marketing officer of e-mail marketing solutions provider ExactTarget, singled out as important for the coming year. (See “E-mail Trends: Bye-bye, Batch-Mailing” ). Now that the year is more than halfway over, Baggott has refined some of his predictions regarding trends.

For instance, Baggott is putting more emphasis on the importance of multichannel analysis to determine the effectiveness of marketing e-mails. Don’t stop at measuring open and click-through rates; also look at what the recipients do after they open and click. Maybe they don’t make a purchase immediately, but perhaps they return to the Website later that week, or stop in a store, or call for more information.

Tying into that is the use of more-advanced testing methods. “Even yesterday’s A/B type testing is being replaced by more advanced multivariant and Taguchi testing,” Baggott says. “Before dynamic content, advanced testing was virtually impossible. Now it’s easy, and the results are dramatic.”

What remains important, however, is the use of e-mail as a retention tool and creating targeted, relevant messages to be sent only when applicable, rather than according to a regular timetable. “Marketers should only e-mail individuals when they have something to say,” Baggott says. “The idea that it’s Thursday and I’ve got to send an e-mail is antiquated. Marketers have few opportunities to constructively engage their customers and prospects, and they must maximize each opportunity to touch the customer.”