Internet marketing has been around for only a short time, but its evolution has been so quick that the changes can be measured by months versus years. Opt-in Email, one of the main staples of Internet marketing, likewise has changed dramatically in just a short period. The following piece will give the reader an overview of email marketing through the course of time, and strategies moving forward.

During the mid to late 90’s email was a brand new media darling, promising to be the silver bullet for marketers. During this infancy period, response rates were through the roof yielding click rates in excess of 10%. Equally as compelling to marketers was the ability to track response beyond what traditional direct mail offered. Mailers could see who opened the email, and do intricate testing with results back in days versus weeks. As was to be suspected, those click rates dropped as the adoption curve moved along and email became less of a novelty to the recipient. As those response rates subsided, so too did base CPMs but still at a premium in relation to direct mail and other media vehicles.

As the new millennium began, Internet marketing as a whole faced a crossroads. The dot-com bubble was beginning to burst, and Internet advertising response rates dropped to very low levels making it hard to justify previous rate levels. Many companies banner-advertising budgets shrank or disappeared. During the same period, major portal web sites like AOL and Yahoo, which dominated the demand side from advertisers, saw that demand shrink as well. While their pricing dropped, less prestigious web ventures were forced to take drastic measures in an attempt to continue to secure advertising dollars and survive. Cost per acquisition (CPA) and cost per click (CPC) pricing came into vogue. Marketers were presented with a no-risk scenario of paying only for successful advertising. However this pricing model did little for the advertisers themselves, and accelerated their ultimate demise as companies.

Email marketing now is faced with a similar crossroads in terms of pricing and feasibility for mailers to justify campaigns. Shortly after the shakeup in banner advertising, email has experienced similar growing pains. Less reputable email vendors began to offer CPA/CPC arrangements on their lists. This was typical of vendors who essentially were peddling ill-gotten names that amounted to spam. Response rates were low and marketers that entered into such arrangements often encountered complaints from individuals who had never provided opt-in permission to the list owners. This did have the effect of driving list prices down considerably as reputable vendors tried to compete effectively against questionable consumer databases. This trend did not translate with business-to-business lists, which for the most part maintained their premium pricing.

Within the past year unsolicited email has become a significant problem, acting as a nuisance to consumers, and disrupting business email communications in general. It has turned into a technology war with ISPs and IT professionals installing spam filters, and renegade spammers using technology to proliferate the volume of emails while disguising their identity.

In this mix legitimate marketers have been faced with new challenges. How to avoid getting their message from being bundled with spam messages and filtered? How can they get their message to stand out to the recipient who is spam fatigued? Is the email sky falling?

It appears as though help is on the way in the form of legislative measures to curb unwanted email. California has recently enacted the toughest spam legislation in country, and legislators in Washington are contemplating similar measures in the U.S. Senate. While it may take time for technology to catch up and be able to enforce spam laws, it is clear that eventually spam will be legislated. Email has become ingrained in business culture unlike anything since the telephone, and the government is committed to making it a productive, safe medium for all (including children). It is a concern that legislators will overreact and go to far in the direction of over protection. However, it’s more likely that long tem this will be a good thing for legitimate marketers, removing the clutter in inboxes, and preserve the legitimacy of email as a whole.

While looked at against the backdrop of its first inception, email marketing has declined. However the fundamental positives still make email marketing a proven performer. It has the targetability of direct mail, without the fixed production/creative costs. While response rates have dropped, they are still stronger than many other direct response vehicles. DRTV and direct mail fail to deliver the 1% average response that email marketing delivers. Beyond pure response rates, there are efficiencies in email marketing that other media vehicles simply cannot duplicate. Email allows a marketer to conceive a campaign, and bring it to market and have responses back within a week. Aside from speed, email significantly reduces overhead costs (printing & postage) while still conducting one-to-one communication.

The question is how to optimize current email programs in this difficult environment. A little common sense, and respect for the recipient will go a long way to keep you out of the bulk email box, or deleted altogether.

Subject Lines:

• Do not use ALL CAPS in the subject line
• Avoid over the top catch phrases & words sure to be filtered: Free, Check out…., dollar signs $, etc.
• State the offer in the subject; don’t beat around the bush
• If you have reasonable brand awareness, include your company’s name

Lists:

• Stick to known, reputable list owners/brokers
• Investigate how the list is put together, and sign up to experience the offers received
• Opt-out of the list to assure you are removed and the list is clean from a privacy perspective

Creative:

• Avoid use of flash technology, streaming video, or large file sizes
• Have multiple areas for the recipient to click, that are easy to identify
• Test multiple creative units: It will have impact on results, so experiment
• Don’t avoid text all together, in certain environments it works, and is less likely to be filtered
  

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