November 05, 2012

Making The Case For Email Marketing

If you're like me, you're tired of hearing that email marketing is dead.

Think about email marketers.  Their primary method of measurement is centered on open rates, click through rates, and conversion rates.  None of these metrics map to what CEOs/CFOs care about ... namely net sales and profit.

Look at this example:



This is an e-commerce brand that generates 19% of annual net sales via email marketing, and 17% of annual profit comes from email marketing.

This isn't an uncommon situation.  I frequently see direct channel profit and loss statements where 25% of direct channel profit is sourced from email marketing.

The next time you are being beaten up for managing a "dead" channel, pull out a profit and loss statement (just like the one above), and ask the individual offering the hypothesis a couple of questions.
  1. If email marketing is dead, then why is my company generating so much profit from email marketing?
  2. If email marketing is dead, then we can discontinue it right now, without seeing a negative impact on sales, correct?
  3. What channel will replace the $13,000,000 demand and $3,594,500 outlined above within twelve months, at minimal or no cost?
Be sure to hold the individual accountable for providing accurate, solid answers.

Coming Soon:  Hillstrom's Email Marketing Excellence!

3 comments:

  1. Who keeps saying that email marketing is dead? I haven't heard or read that once. Either I'm only hanging around those in the know, or going to the wrong conferences, perhaps. :)

    Looking forward to the new book.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I spoke at a conference two weeks ago ... it was the first question I was asked by the audience (is email marketing dead) ... and I was speaking at an email conference!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:46 PM

    hello, i like your views in making of email marketing. why email marketing is dead ?

    ReplyDelete

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