What’s the message from the Internet Retailer Convention & Exhibition in Chicago where Bronto has been exhibiting as an industry leader in email marketing this week?
In a slumping economy, retailers tell us that the effectiveness and efficiency of email marketing makes it even more important in their marketing mix. When consumer spending takes a hit, retailers need to work even harder to keep costs low, while maintaining revenue numbers. We’ve seen it before. Bronto client From You Flowers eliminated their catalog channel altogether; after realizing that the high costs of production (materials, printing, postage) didn’t come close to their email marketing returns.
In comparison to last year’s Internet Retailer Conference, where email marketing sessions focused on segmentation and many basic topics, this year the focus was on transactional messaging. Transactional messaging allows you to automate many of your processes while delivering relevant touches for the customer. In one session, Jeffrey Housenbold of Shutterfly stated that they receive 75% of their revenue from existing customers. More than customer acquisition, the ability to retain customers while nurturing and growing the relationship becomes key. And email marketing is an ideal channel to achieve that goal. Meanwhile a main goal in e-commerce should be to drive traffic back to your website. Do your email marketing goals work in concert with your marketing goals? Does every one of your email campaigns focus on driving traffic back to your website? You should have answered both of those questions with a hearty “YES.” If not, you should quickly realign your marketing goals.
During another session Cliff Conneighton, SVP of ATG, stressed that web shopping needs to be personal. This need provides even more reason to enhance those email marketing relationships, conveying high quality, a good name, and ultimately staying top of mind for when they’re ready to purchase.
Keep the conversation alive with your customers; nurture the relationship. If your customers are going to spend their money, make sure they’re going to spend it on your products.
So, without doubt, internet retailers are standing tall through these trying economic times, but it’s not without the help of email marketing.
Caroline Smith
Marketing Program Manager at Bronto
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