Winning Online

Can you imagine a day without receiving or sending an e-mail? We have certainly developed into a society focused on time optimization and technology reliance. Sitting here on my computer it is hard to imagine a time when “snail mail” was the way to send a message to family, friends and associates.  Not only does traditional mail take way longer, but it is a lot less convenient. Don’t get me wrong there are still many useful applications for traditional mail, but it is hard to argue the popularity, convenience and speed of e-mail.

As far as marketing capabilities is concerned, one application for traditional mailing is referred to as direct marketing. Direct marketing is what most of us call “junk mail” these days. The catalog you get from that office supply store, the pamphlet about mortgage rates you get from your bank (even though you are a renter), even the catalog from Victoria Secrets (whether you are a lady or a gent you know you get one, hehe) – these are all examples of direct mail.  The common opinion of junk mail is… well, we’re calling it junk mail, you get the point. However, in the eyes of a true marketer; even if you only look at the piece once, you have still read the message and you have gotten a name, phrase, perhaps a logo or brand in your head. This kind of “seed planting” is what direct mail is all about.

Since the rise in popularity of emailing, direct mail marketing has gotten some stiff competition. Email Marketing, or eMarketing, incorporates the same principals as direct marketing but is far more efficient and cost effective. With e-mail marketing you can easily measure your ROI (Return On Investment), you cut down on the time it takes to process campaign results, you can optimize your follow up tactics and can really focus on customer feedback and direction.

With the click of the mouse you can send out thousands of e-mails. Once the e-mail has been sent, you can seamlessly track results, from who opened your message to when they opened it, to what they clicked on when it was opened. The efficiency of e-mail marketing as compared to direct marketing is unprecedented. Information that would take weeks, even months to figure out with direct marketing campaigns is now delivered to you just about as quickly as the message is sent out. Instead of wondering if your target audience got the mail, or better yet if they opened it, you know. Strategic email marketing goes a long way to take the guess work out of what your efforts are producing.  Emarketing solutions such as the one provided by www.constantcontact.com allow you to “speak to your audience with impact.” Solutions like this one puts valuable consumer feedback at your fingertips with the click of the mouse.

If the ease and convenience do not appeal to one, then surely the ability to track efficiency and ROI will. With traditional direct marketing, it is hard to gauge your success rate. Without being able to determine your success you are really unable to tell if you have made a good investment or not. With e-mail marketing this can all be tracked, and you can weigh the investment you made against the return you are seeing. 

It is a given that not every target audience is well suited for e-mail marketing, but for those who are this form of promotion offers a tremendous opportunity. Emarketing allows administrators to focus on strengths, improve on weaknesses and get the message out where people are flocking to the most these days. So the question is;  are you Emarketing?

Winning Strategies provides custom email marketing solutions.  From the design and layout of unique, branded campaigns, to the distribution and tracking of campaign results, Winning Strategies can help you with your next emarketing promotion.  Contact us to learn more.