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What Forrester’s Email Marketing Forecast for 2009 – 2014 Doesn’t Tell You
By Cynthia Fedor | June 22, 2009
Forrester recently published a new forecast report, “US Email Marketing Forecast, 2009 To 2014,” which states that marketers are expected to spend $2 billion on email marketing by 2014, sending more than 9,000 emails annually by then. This statement brought a smile to many e-marketers’ faces and sent their fingers typing away on Twitter, chirping the praises of email marketing. And sure, email marketing is great for customer retention and for reaching one’s sphere of influence; but, it shouldn’t be the only medium used for any campaign.
When you’re first taught how to invest in stocks, your 401K, etc, you learn that diversification is the key to long-term success and building profit that can withstand the market’s ups and downs. Well, the same rings true for your marketing mix. Social media marketing, email marketing and SMS text marketing are all great new ways to quickly reach audiences; however, they alone shouldn’t dominate your marketing mix.
What happens when your audience starts to gloss over and ignore much of those 9,000 emails forecasted to be sent in 2014? How do you connect with members of your audience that aren’t online all of the time? What will you fall back on when search engine algorithms change or you face email deliverability issues?
Companion marketing – using a mix of traditional direct marketing and online – will always be the smart way to effectively reach target audiences, build brand awareness and capture market share, long term. Whatever medium you use – whether direct mail, email marketing, online marketing, etc. – just make sure your content is relevant and your approach is personalized and targeted. Simple, right?