流行病持续打击零售的部分原因是，电子邮件被证明是一种至关重要的营销工具-社交媒体紧随其后。
电子邮件营销公司Litmus的“ 2020年秋季电子邮件状态”报告发现，有77％的营销人员表示电子邮件是他们两个最有效的营销渠道之一。此外，有78％的营销主管表示电子邮件营销对于公司的整体成功至关重要，比去年增加了7％。
该报告基于2,000多个营销商的反馈，指出必须正确衡量和报告ROI，才能利用电子邮件的潜力。对于许多组织来说，这是一个问题领域。
只有16％的受访者表示，他们的公司对电子邮件营销的ROI评估得很好。在这一点上，有45％的受访者认为电子邮件营销活动的ROI评估很差，非常差或根本不存在。
Litmus CMO梅利莎·萨金特（Melissa Sargeant）表示：“该报告说明了为什么电子邮件应该在每个营销组合中都处于最重要的位置。” “在当今的营销环境中，随着品牌努力高效，及时地突破数字广告的混乱局面，个性化和针对性的消息传递需要优先考虑。”
完善个性化
许多公司还无法根据订户数据充分个性化电子邮件活动，并确保电子邮件列表是最新的，而忽略了营销的最佳实践之一。超过三分之一的受访者表示，除非他们选择退出，否则不会将不活动的订户从邮件列表中删除。
过期的电子邮件列表可能会损害ROI，从而破坏个性化电子邮件的目的，并且还会引发安全问题。超过一半的受访者表示，他们很少通过垃圾邮件过滤器测试来发送电子邮件，以在发送之前识别出可能的可传递性问题。
该报告指出，营销人员倾向于采用电子邮件优先的方法来提高整体营销效果。五分之四的受访者表示，他们将在12个月内放弃其品牌的社交媒体，而不是在同一时期内放弃电子邮件营销。
Sargeant认为，电子邮件是一种有效的营销工具，可创造无与伦比的投资回报率并最大限度地提高客户参与度。
她告诉《电子商务时报》说：“使电子邮件成为最可靠的渠道的原因在于，它能够收集订户参与度数据和信息以告知整体品牌消息，此外，还能够个性化内容。”
几乎所有的营销受访者（94％）都指出，电子邮件是他们三个最有效的营销渠道之一。54％的人希望今年发送的电子邮件数量比2019年多。
60％的营销主管表示，他们还计划在2020年发送更多电子邮件。近90％的受访者正在对其电子邮件进行A / B测试。超过四分之一的人“经常”或“总是”这样做。
建立更好的个性化在电子邮件活动中变得越来越普遍。Sargeant指出，品牌在个性化方面变得越来越聪明。
她说：“他们已经意识到，这不仅仅是插入收件人的名字，因为其他行为统计数据比过去更有用，例如以前的产品和电子邮件交互以及过去的购买。”
多渠道方法
Litmus报告的重点是对市场营销专业人员进行问卷调查，主要涉及有关其组织如何管理电子邮件营销活动的调查问题。当您认为Litmus具有自己的电子邮件营销平台时，这很有意义。
但石蕊公司的官员们意识到，社交媒体可以成为补充电子邮件活动的有效平台。品牌越来越多地使用电子邮件，因此对电子邮件营销的依赖也随之增加。Sargeant解释说，这种方法可以有效，及时地打破数字广告的混乱局面。
她说：“通过（客户）数据创建个性化和定向消息已成为每个人的首要任务。电子邮件使营销人员能够个性化品牌体验，甚至可以通过后期发送和性能分析影响整个组合。”
反过来，这会推动组织范围内的消息传递和多渠道营销策略。她补充说，电子邮件在黑暗模式，图形和个性化等领域不断创新，再次变得性感。
电子邮件和社交媒体
尽管如此，电子邮件营销和社交媒体仍可以协同工作，以促进两个渠道的互动并改善整体营销策略。与社交相关的内容或主题可以驱动电子邮件内容，反之亦然。
“您利用两种渠道的洞察力越多，您获得的成就就越大。社交功能是即时的，可让营销团队获得对潜在客户感兴趣的第二洞察力。同样重要的是，您可以快速看到这种变化社交电子邮件可以像电子邮件一样，推动个性化互动，如果使用得当，可以建立人与人之间的联系，” Sargeant说。
Fitness Masterly董事总经理Healy Jones表示，营销人员拥有使用电子邮件和社交媒体进行广告活动的强大工具集。
他对E表示：“对于在社交[媒体]上将定位/再营销功能与电子邮件营销结合使用的品牌，我已经看到了巨大的成功。特别是，像Facebook和LinkedIn这样的平台使营销人员可以将电子邮件列表上传到目标受众。” -商务时报。
Jones看到的一项工作策略是通过电子邮件和社交媒体传递相同的消息。从一周左右的时间通过目标社交媒体启动泵开始，然后电子邮件促销才能显着提高电子邮件活动的效果。
他表示：“我看到增长了30％。
社会的甜蜜点
但是，社交媒体通常是广告平台的更好选择。Honest Paws的联合创始人切尔西·亨特·里维拉姆（Chelsea Hunt-Riveram）反驳了它的全球影响力。
她对《电子商务时报》说：“您在互联网上看不到任何东西。只需单击几下，您的听众就可以与您进行互动。这意味着有更多的被认可的机会。”
但这也是冒险的，因为您以最方便的方式与世界各地的人打交道。Hunt-Riveram警告说，一个错误的举动会毁掉您的声誉。
“但是，如果我们谈论的是无障碍获取和效率，社交媒体会为您的业务带来更大的机会。在社交媒体中，创造力是不受限制的。这与通过文字，调查，照片视频，帖子，vlog进行营销有很多关系，博客，tweet等。与电子邮件不同，您已经受到一两个高清视频的限制，”她说。
躲垃圾邮件过滤器
依靠电子邮件优先原则的营销人员必须克服大量垃圾邮件过滤器。GeoJango Maps的营销和SEO专家Michael Anderson建议，垃圾邮件过滤器可能很棘手，因为标记电子邮件的过程通常是随机的。
他告诉《电子商务时报》：“但是，您可以通过指定真实的回复电子邮件地址并输入完整的公司名称作为发件人，来减少将电子邮件标记为垃圾邮件的机会。”
Anvil Media总裁兼创始人肯特·刘易斯（Kent Lewis）表示，应用一些内幕技巧可以帮助您更好地处理垃圾邮件过滤器的干扰。例如，打击垃圾邮件过滤器的最佳方法是开发多方面的方法。
“首先，我建议双重选择，以减少收件人的困惑并最大化承诺。其次，我建议提醒收件人将电子邮件添加到安全发件人中。最后，根据需要支付溢价，以确保您拥有列入白名单和绑定的ESP，以最大程度地减少损失过滤器。”刘易斯对《电子商务时报》表示。
Partly as a result of the continuing pandemic's hit on retail sales, email is proving to be a vital marketing tool -- with social media a close second.
The "2020 State of Email, Fall Edition" report from email marketing firm Litmus found that 77 percent of marketers said email is one of their two most effective marketing channels. Additionally, 78 percent of marketing executives indicated email marketing is vital to the overall success of their company, a seven percent increase since last year.
The report, based on responses from more than 2,000 marketers, noted that ROI must be properly measured and reported in order to capitalize on the potential of email. That is a problem area for many organizations.
Just 16 percent of respondents said their company measures email marketing's ROI well or very well. Zeroing in on that point, 45 percent of respondents cited ROI measurement of email marketing efforts as poor, very poor, or non-existent.
"The report showcases why email should be front and center in every single marketing mix," said Litmus CMO Melissa Sargeant. "In today's marketing environment, with brands working to break through the clutter of digital advertisements in an efficient and timely manner, personalization and targeted messaging needs to take priority."
Perfecting Personalization
Many companies also fail to adequately personalize email campaigns based on subscriber data and ensure that email lists are current, ignoring one of marketing's best practices. More than one-third of the respondents said they do not remove inactive subscribers from their mailing lists unless they opt out.
Outdated email lists can hurt ROI, defeating the purpose of personalizing emails and also contribute to security issues. More than half of respondents indicated they seldom run emails through a spam filter test to identify possible deliverability problems before sending.
The report points to marketers' preference for taking an email-first approach for overall marketing effectiveness. Four out of five respondents said they would give up their brand's social media for 12 months rather than give up email marketing for the same period of time.
Email is an effective marketing tool to create unparalleled ROI and maximize customer engagement, according to Sargeant.
"What makes email the most dependable channel available is the ability to garner subscriber engagement data and information to inform overall brand messaging, and, additionally, the capability to personalize content," she told the E-Commerce Times.
Nearly all of the marketing respondents (94 percent) noted that email is one of their three most effective marketing channels. Fifty-four percent expect to send more emails this year than they did in 2019.
Sixty percent of marketing executives said they also planned to send more emails in 2020. Nearly 90 percent of respondents are conducting A/B tests on their emails. More than one quarter do so "often" or "always."
Building in better personalization is becoming more prevalent in email campaigns. Brands are getting smarter about personalization, Sargeant observed.
"They have realized that it is much more than just inserting the recipient's first name, as other behavioral statistics are more utilized than in the past, like previous product and email interactions and past purchases," she said.
Multichannel Approach
The Litmus report focused on polling marketing professionals with survey questions primarily about how their organizations managed email marketing campaigns. That makes sense when you consider Litmus has its own email marketing platform.
But Litmus officials recognized that social media can be an effective platform to supplement email campaigns. Brands are using email more and thus have experienced a subsequent increase in reliance on email marketing. That approach breaks through the clutter of digital advertisements in an efficient and timely manner, Sargeant explained.
"Personalization and targeted messages created through [customer] data have become a priority for everyone. Email gives marketers the ability to personalize brand experiences and even influence an entire mix with post-send and performance analytics," she said.
That, in turn, drives organization-wide messaging and multichannel marketing strategy. Email is sexy again with continued innovation in areas like dark mode, graphics, and personalization, she added.
Email and Social Media
Still, email marketing and social media can work together to drive engagement for both channels and improve overall marketing strategy. Content or topics that are relevant in social can drive email content and vice versa.
"The more you leverage insights from both channels, the more lift you achieve. Social is instantaneous and allows marketing teams to get up to the second insights into what prospects are interested in. And, just as important, you can quickly see how that changes over time. Like email, social can drive personalized engagement and create human-to-human connections if utilized properly," Sargeant said.
Marketers have a solid toolset using both email and social media for ad campaigns, according to Healy Jones, managing director at Fitness Masterly.
"I have seen huge success with brands that use the targeting / remarketing features on social [media] in conjunction with email campaigns. Specifically, platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn let marketers upload email lists to target those individuals in campaigns," he told the E-Commerce Times.
A strategy that Jones has seen work is delivering the same message through both email and social media. Starting with priming the pump via targeted social media a week or so before the email promotion can increase the email campaign's performance significantly.
"I've seen up to a 30 percent boost, he offered.
Social's Sweet Spot
However, social media is often the better option for an ad platform. Its worldwide reach is compelling, countered Chelsea Hunt-Riveram, co-founder of Honest Paws.
"There is nothing you cannot see on the Internet. With just a couple of clicks, your audience can already interact with you. That means, more chances of recognition await," she told the E-Commerce Times.
But it is also risky since you are dealing with people from around the world in the most convenient way possible. One wrong move can ruin your reputation, warned Hunt-Riveram.
"But if we are talking about accessibility and efficiency, social media opens bigger opportunities for your business. In social media, creativity is not limited. There is so much to do with it like marketing through text, surveys, photos videos, posts, vlogs, blogs, tweets, and others. Unlike with email that you're already limited with an HD video or two," she said.
Dodging Spam Filters
Marketers relying on the email-first doctrine must overcome the glut of spam filters. Spam filters can be tricky as the process of labeling emails as such is often somewhat random, suggested Michael Anderson, marketing & SEO specialist at GeoJango Maps.
"However, you can decrease your chances of having your emails labeled as spam by specifying a real reply-to email address and entering in your full business name as the sender," he told the E-Commerce Times.
Applying a few insider tips can help to better handle spam filter interference, according to Kent Lewis, president & founder of Anvil Media. For instance, the best way to combat spam filters is to develop a multifaceted approach.
"First, I recommend double opt-in to reduce recipient confusion and maximize commitment. Second, I suggest reminding recipients to add the emails to Safe Senders. Lastly, pay a premium as necessary to ensure you have a whitelisted and bonded ESP to minimize loss to filters," Lewis told the E-Commerce Times.
