Our Informal Survey Results Are In!

Thank you to those who responded to the OnMark Solutions Email Marketing survey. And congratulations to the first five participants who won amazon.com gift cards!

As promised, here is a recap of the responses we received regarding the current and future state of email marketing. According to our informal survey as well as a recent national survey done by MarketingSherpa, e-marketing is alive and well and plans to stay that way, which is good news for many of you – and for us at OnMark Solutions.

1. Email Marketing Frequency: Some Today, More Tomorrow
Almost half of you stated that you currently send customers or prospects “official” email marketing messages a few times a year, with more than 25% indicating a monthly frequency. However, in 2010, more than 60% said your usage of email marketing will increase. This trend aligns with MarketingSherpa’s finding that both b2c and b2b marketers see great value in email marketing and feel it’s a powerful tool worthy of investment.

Tip: As you develop your 2010 marketing programs, consider where, when and how email marketing fits so that you reach every audience in the most effective manner.

2. Email Marketing Multitasks
Approximately 48% of you said you use email marketing for a variety of purposes: education, sales and to increase website traffic. Thirty-five percent said you focus on sales with your email marketing efforts.

Email marketing objectives vary on a national level as well, with MarketingSherpa reporting almost 90% of b2c and b2b companies consider email marketing important for customer retention, followed by lead generation in the b2b world and driving online sales in b2b.

Tip: Whether you are b2c or b2b, consider how email marketing can achieve a variety of business objectives. It is a measurable and customizable tool that can lead to sales and awareness.

3. Social Media Jockeying for Position
While social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are becoming more popular than ever, we often wonder what that means to email marketing. Your survey responses indicate that email is still considered the most important resource in business communication, followed by your company websites. In fact, most responses indicated very little use of Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook for business communication currently.

However, in the future, according to MarketingSherpa, competition with social media for recipients’ time and attention is seen as a challenge to email marketing’s effectiveness.

Tip: Get to know the various social media tools to ensure you are using the right vehicle(s) for the right audience.

4. Your Headaches

In addition to balancing all of the communication tools available, most of you feel challenged with developing effective content that solicits readership and action as well as carving out time to manage your email marketing campaigns. Only two people cited budget as a challenge.

Respondents to the MarketingSherpa survey share your pain. More than 80% of companies large and small cited “delivering highly relevant email content to recipients” as their top email marketing challenge.

Tip: There are many ways to deliver a highly effective email campaign that don’t require an enormous time or budget commitment. Research the available tools and companies that can be a resource to help supplement your day-to-day marketing efforts.