Or maybe it never went away? There are some social media experts who say email as a marketing tool is dead, replaced by RSS feeds, but I don’t agree. I think social media has changed the nature of internet marketing just as cable TV changed TV advertising.

In both instances, the target has more choices.  If you want your ad to be watched or email promotion to be opened it needs to be bundled with good content, relevant to a smaller, but more concentrated market.

Pro Blogger Darren Rowse argues that the most successful bloggers use both! If used properly, email will drive traffic and build community.    He says:

I’m arguing is that bloggers take a 2nd look at email.  My personal approach is to have multiple points of connection with readers which reinforces what I’m doing on my sites and maximize the impression that I’m able to make upon them.

At Roundpeg, we have been using email marketing, with Constant Contact for almost seven years for our business and our clients.  We have seen open rates decline from a high of 60% to 15% for good programs.  Recently, we added more targeted emails and have seen a reversal of that trend.

For example, we work with an optometrist who sends  email reminders to patients to come in for their annual eye exam.  These small lists perform significantly better.  Patients who ignore his monthly newsletter, open an email with a subject line which says schedule your annual eye exam. His open rate was over 30% on the targeted email, and more than 15% clicked through to the scheduling form on his website.  We have seen the same type of performance on our Business Plan list.  Small (100 business owners) in comparison to my primary list (3,600 business professionals and owners) the open rate for email to this group is around 60%, with strong click through as well.

So mass email may be dead, but focused, relevant, PERMISSION BASED email is alive, productive and powerful!

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Looking for help with your email marketing program?  Contact Roundpeg, an Indianapolis web design company,we can help you get started today!