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Email Marketing - CRM = Customer Really Manage

A few years back, great importance was given to the acquisition of the latest technologies to predict, model and manage the relations between brands, companies and consumers. Unfortunately, for many years, advertisers were lost in the midst of technological development and they were not giving importance to what the consumer deserved. Today, with the growing reach of the Internet, broadband connectivity, search engines, social networks, and increased demand for Smart Phones, we have arrived at an era on which the consumer is truly the manager.

Taking into account that technology has to facilitate things, but it is not everything, advertisers have to give the consumers the value they demand. For this reason, when we speak of email marketing, it is very important to speak of RELEVANCE of the messages and the level of personalization in the conversations that are initiated through email.

The actual situation of the use and abuse of email marketing has led the consumers to fight more and more against SPAM and has driven them to different avenues of communication like social networks, text messaging and other methods that allow the consumer to regain control over their personal communications and relations with retailers. If retailers want to avoid being blacklisted or ignored, they must improve the relevancy of their email programs. The solution lies in using segmentation and personalization techniques to target emails. Of course, retailers also need to be vigilant about testing their tactics to determine which are most effective.

Focus on Customers' Needs or Lose Them Forever

Marketers must use measurement tools in order to provide personalized messaging. In a 2008 Merkle Study, half of email recipients said good email influenced their decision to make a purchase, and 38 percent said they tend to spend more money with a company that sends emails they read regularly. Thirty-two percent said they stopped doing business with a company because of poor email marketing practices.

Looking forward, some of the most exciting possibilities for email marketing are appearing in social networks. The social inbox, for instance, promises to provide an integrated view of a user’s email and other communication channels. Furthermore, new applications will make it easier for people to virally share emails with friends in their social networks.