What Should the Email Industry Talk About In 2010?

by Loren McDonald, Thursday, January 14

As we launch into 2010, I'd like to break away from the usual round of predictions and must-do lists. Let's talk instead about what we need to do in order to help advance the industry in this decade.

In my regular Email Insider columns, I try to suggest ways to improve individual email marketing results but also to help email gain the recognition it deserves within your company and in the larger business world.

Sometimes, this means emailers themselves need to treat the channel with more respect. This led to my argument earlier last year that marketers should stop saying  "blast" when referring to an email campaign, newsletter or message.

A few commenters in other forums thought that discussion was a waste of time, given the many challenges email faces today from rising volume, the impact of social media, spam filters and the like.

Yes, we have bigger fish to fry. But I also believe that casual references like this keep email sequestered in management minds as a non-strategic, low-cost marketing channel.

I hope I've shown through my columns that email not only drives revenue but also contributes to solving business challenges and meeting growth goals throughout the company, far beyond the marketing department.

However, management won't see this (and more importantly, grant the budget resources to make it happen) as long as we keep thinking in "blast" mode.

Moving Beyond the Arguments

To change that mindset, we as professional email marketers need to work out a set of generally shared perceptions that change our approach to email.

This can create the rising tide that lifts the email boat at more companies, which can lead to greater respect for email.

But what are those issues? I can't think of a single issue on which 100% of emailers agree, except perhaps that "email works." Heck, we can't even agree on the fundamental notion that you need consent before you start emailing someone.

In the last few years, many in the industry have argued over a basic set of issues at conferences, on blogs, in online communities and on discussion lists. As much as anybody, I'm probably guilty of starting or continuing some of these passionate debates:

• Double opt-in versus single opt-in
• Pre-checked versus unchecked opt-in boxes on registration pages
• The open rate's value
• Should you retain inactives or remove them?
• Where to put the unsubscribe link?
• Is unsolicited email OK for B2B?

• Image-heavy emails are bad. 

It's easy and fun to debate these tactical issues with the smartest people in this industry. However, it is time to move forward, to channel our collective voices and reach some consensus.

So, What are the Strategic Industry Issues?

If the industry were to hire a lobbyist or strategic PR firm, on which topics would they tell us to focus our conversations? My guess is we'd have some core message platforms whose focus would differ based on the target audiences, such as:

• Consumers/Email recipients
• ISPs
• Lawmakers
• Marketers
• Corporate management. 

Corporate management is probably our most important audience. These folks control the resources we so desperately need -- but are also the first ones to say "Just send more email."

If we can change corporate managers' mindset, they will in turn hold their email marketers accountable for maximizing the ROI from email.

Therefore, we should focus our energies and conversations on the issues that will help make email marketing a communications channel that both recipients and senders value:

• Overmailing: The biggest threat to email's future, in my opinion, comes from marketers and/or their managers who think that simply sending more email, rather than more relevant email, is the best route to achieve business goals.
• Permission/Trust/Spam: Yes, spam-filtering technologies have reduced the amount of spam that goes into most consumer inboxes. However, phishing and unsolicited emails of any type drag down the channel's viability.
• Email's Role: Maybe I hope for too much from email, but when I look at my inbox full of "Free Shipping/20% Off" messages, I wonder if email has become the "e-discount" channel. Whatever happened to email's promise as a "one-to-one" medium? Email is the Swiss Army knife of marketing communications, but many marketers don't use all the email tools.
• Corporate Respect: Lack of resources is the main reason that most marketers haven't taken their email program to the highest level. Until email gains management respect, the channel will generally be under-allocated. I know one company where email marketing drives more than one-third of company revenues, yet no one works full time on email marketing.

What's Next?

What are your hot-button issues for 2010? Do you agree with any that I've suggested? Or, are there more critical topics?

If we can reach a consensus on even one, we can use it to help email advance as both a marketing channel and a business tool. Keep the conversation going by adding your comments below and via Twitter, email forums, blogs and conferences.

Until next time, take it up a notch! And happy New Year -- 2010 is going to be a great year for email marketing.

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