Five Keys to E-mail Marketing Success
by Joseph Nchor
GroupWeb.com

The cost of starting and executing an email campaign is relatively low compared to any other direct marketing methods. Hence, many companies are quickly adopting permission email marketing strategies. The rush to establish opt-in email programs not only indicates low cost of entry, but the importance of email marketing in today's business environment. A new study from IMT Strategies reveals that organizations must adhere to key factors that will lead to long-term success of email marketing, otherwise they throw the baby out with bath water. These factors are Multi-Channel Marketing Management, CRM Integration, Managing Context and Personalization, Customer Control Over Permission Relationships, Enterprise E-mail Governance.

Multi-Channel Marketing Management
One thing that Internet marketers may have learned from the fall of dotcoms is perhaps that Internet alone is not enough to market a product or a service. Companies must use multiple media channels to launch their products or services if they are to succeed. The same rule applies to email marketing. In order for any company to succeed in email marketing, IMT Strategies reveals that executives must "integrate email into offline and online media campaigns." For example, some technology magazines solicit email addresses from prospective subscribers with postcards. When a future subscriber receives a postcard in the mail, he completes a personal profile that includes his email address and returns the card to the publisher. Sometimes a reader receives a letter in the mail and he is invited to complete a subscription form online. The subscriber does not only gets a print magazine, but he is also included in a periodic email newsletter.

CRM Integration
Whether your email strategy includes offline prospecting or not, its outcome will demand customer relationship management (CRM). According to Webopedia.com, "CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it be sales or service related." Imagine you send out an email campaign to sell widgets. The next day, you are flooded with responses to buy your new product. How you respond to inquiries from prospective customers quickly and satisfactorily will determine the success of your campaign.

Managing Context and Personalization
If your widgets are for females and some for males, craft your email piece based on different sexes. Do not send email to women describing widgets for males, and men will not like to receive email from you describing widgets for women. Write each email based on your target audience and how each product or service matches each individual in your email list. In other words, manage your email campaign based on the context of your product or service. You can achieve this contextualization based on personalizing your emails to your target audiences.

Customer Control Over Permission Relationships
It is difficult to achieve optimum personalization of prospective or existing customers if they do not have control over the ability to tell you who they are. Some male customers may be interested in your widgets, but may not like to let you know how much money they make a year. Some may not like to tell you anything about their gender or sexual preferences even though they are interested in your product. If existing customers have changed habits of consumption, provide a place on your online preference form so that they can indicate their new habits. Do not make it obligatory for your customers to complete online forms with personal information if all you need is an email address.

Enterprise E-mail Governance
In order for an organization to achieve continuous successful email marketing campaigns, IMT Strategies indicates that the organization must hire a senior management who will establish and execute email policies. The person will measure the return of investment for each campaign and holds everyone accountable who is involved.

Long-term success in email marketing, according to IMT Strategies, depends on how you use multiple channels to execute your email campaigns. Success also depends on how you integrate customer relation management, personalization, customer control over permission relationships and email governance. You can find a summary of IMT Strategies study "Enterprise Permission Marketing -- Best Practices for Managing Targeted Email Programs Across the Organization" on their website.