"Email 2.0": Email Marketing is thriving

Anne Holand from marketing reports that email marketing is thriving and she has dubbed this "Email 2.0". I've included some highlights I deemed important from her email summit wrap up:

Opt-in lists
What I found interesting was that adding a form field let to more email opt-ins as it's typically the opposite effect:

"Proving that no rule is set in concrete, David Kreitzer, Marketing Director Bella Pictures, says he more than doubled opt-in form conversions when he *added* an extra field. Turns out brides visiting the photographer booking site were far more likely to complete and submit an email form when they were asked for the date of their wedding "to check availability". "It doesn't do anything," admitted Kreitzer. "But she feels like she'll get something immediate back from filling out our form, so it's a good thing.""

Good to know! It goes back to that concept of thinking about your target audience and what typre of informational that they would want to provide (not just willing to provide) rather then just thinking about the information that you want.

Email Creative Design
There are also some other interesting concepts regarding how you should design your B2B emails:

"Email templates that work are increasingly simple. The only Web site navigation most award winners and speakers prominently included on their email templates was a hotlinked logo and a search button. Plus, many email templates are slimming down from typically two columns to just one column. In the meantime, typeface font sizes are up -- often to 12 points for body copy. Images are still critical for many mailers, but smart designers are moving compelling text above the image so if recipients block images, they still see something of interest in their email preview pane. "

Email Copywriting

It seems that emails need to become less salesy - wow that's not a surprise!

"In fact copywriters have to split their voice in two. Outbound messages to the non-interested masses have to be peppy to capture interest. That means your Web banners, POP displays, print ads, TV and radio commercials, and direct mail campaigns to rented lists should be "promotional" in tone. Copy for the already-interested audience -- especially email opt-ins, inbound phone calls, and search clicks -- should be far more FACTUAL in tone. You've gotten them to the store, now they'd appreciate it if you'd stop pitching them and serve their information needs instead."

Anne provides examples of companies such as E-LOAN and Intercontinental Hotels not including offers in their newsletters. There are also some additional concepts of email cenmtralization and email globalization that are very interesting.

Thanks Anne for your continued efforts to keep marketers informed about the latest and greatest in email marketing. It seems that while there are other mediums like RSS and blogging that are starting to really make a dent on how marketers get there message out there, email is still king and what we seee happening is a shift in the way that it's used. E-marketers are getting more creative and more willing to test out different scenarios in order to get the best results.

Chad H

Technorati tags: MarketingSherpa, email 2.0, email marketing, forms, opti-ins