IS E-MAIL MARKETING FOR YOU?

E-MAIL IS RAPIDLY changing how we communicate at home and at the office. Understandably, that has left business-to-business marketers asking themselves whether they should consider e-mail as part of their advertising mix.

Some feel unprepared to enter the online marketing world. Others have focused the majority of their online advertising efforts on building and maintaining Web sites, ignoring more proactive solutions like e-mail, a crucial alternative to reach customers online.

But is e-mail marketing for all of us? If you tend to believe that e-mail marketing is only for those companies on the cutting edge, with large customer files or Web-savvy customers, think again. E-mail marketing has become a solid advertising medium for B-to-B marketers in many industries.

A PROACTIVE APPROACH E-mail gives you the tools you need to create and broadcast full-blown personalized campaigns, manage lists and track response immediately after a promotion has started. Its targeting capabilities allow you to send customized messages.

But above all, it’s based on a “push” strategy where content is going to your customers, not vice versa. So you have better control over timing and offers. Plus you can personalize each interaction with a customer.

FROM PHONE TO MOUSE Last year, we saw the first signs that e-mail was slowly eclipsing the phone as the primary business communication tool. Surveys were conducted to measure the impact of new media in various industries. It is now reaching all SIC codes and, more specifically, the ones with a high PC equipment rate.

The two largest electronic mail vendors, Microsoft (Exchange) and Lotus (Notes), claim supremacy in handling corporate messages in a marketplace estimated at more than 80 million installed seats. E-mail is also often used as a pre- or post-telemarketing campaign to generate a higher return on investment.

WHAT CUSTOMERS WANT E-mail is underutilized as a response vehicle despite its great potential. Many companies solicit customer inquiries on their Web sites without anticipating the incoming deluge of messages.

If you have a Web site, you are doing some type of e-mail marketing. As hundreds of messages are landing in call centers or corporate headquarters, companies are now facing a new challenge: How do you maximize these one-on-one marketing opportunities?

Fortunately, “automated response tools” make this process both manageable and affordable. They handle large volumes of messages within 24 hours and keep track of customer requests in a database for sales follow up and reporting.

E-mail is often considered as only an outbound advertising tool. But its inbound capabilities are tremendous. E-mail marketing is as much about listening and responding to customer needs as it is about proactively engaging them in a direct dialog.

MORE FOR LESS E-mail surpasses direct mail in reach and frequency. In 1998, there were 3.4 trillion e-mail messages delivered (more than 70 percent of those were “commercial” messages).

Because the distribution of e-mail messages among the online population is clearly uneven (where 20 percent of online users get 80 percent of all commercial e-mails), the number of messages they receive overwhelms many. B-to-b marketers are using innovative data capture promotions to reach those customers who get few e-mail solicitations but are willing to receive them.

An estimated 250 billion “permitted” commercial messages will reach customers by e-mail with product/ service offers by 2002 (according to Forrester Research). What company can afford to ignore this “exploding” medium?

Today, there are e-mail discussion lists and newsletters on every conceivable business topic. While they tend to be relatively small compared to the direct mail industry, they offer a very “active” audience. List compilers such as IDG also offer qualified opt-in B-to-B lists with a wide range of selects.

However, the most powerful e-mail list is always the one you build from existing customers or prospects (not unlike direct mail). After all, your customer base has already expressed interest and is more open to the idea of receiving e-mail from you about products, promotions, corporate news and more.

Historically, e-mail marketing shows greater success in heavily computerized industries. Now, thanks to the proliferation of computers in all aspects of corporate life, e-mail is no longer limited to “early adopters” but reaches all types of job functions.