Hubspot Video on Changing Face of Email Marketing

A very nice synopsis of the changing face of email marketing, inbound vs. outbound marketing...and other things that you should consider about your digital message.

1. Cultivate Your House List

When you ask people to sign up for your newsletter, you are cultivating your house email list. When someone opts in to receive updates about your offers and special promos, you are cultivating your house list. “It is a list you work to build over a long period of time,” said Karen. And you know what? Your house list performs better than the vast majority of your other email marketing tools. It enjoys a high adoption rate and provides high ROI, so make sure you leverage that channel and expand it further.

2. Forget About List Rental

Renting lists is not only expensive, but also ineffective. The return on investment from rented lists is much lower than that of house lists, about 10-15%. It is a marketing approach that is less inbound and more interruptive. That is why if you engage in renting lists, you risk losing your reputation as a trust agent and becoming notorious for spamming people who didn’t formally opt in.

3. Focus on Lead Nurturing Instead

Instead of purchasing lists, consider focusing more on lead nurturing campaigns. Lead nurturing is the practice of sending event-triggered emails to a specific segment. You launch these by targeting email subscribers based on their recent conversion events. For instance, if someone visits your luggage eCommerce site and downloads a report about flying in times of tight security control, you can follow up with a luggage checklist for secure travel.

4. Optimize for Mobile

The consumption of email on mobile devices is only going to increase. Get ready for this by optimizing your messages for mobile viewing. Avoid tables and large images in your email templates. Accoridng to MarketingSherpa's 2010 report, 67% of people do not display images by default in their email system. Also, try to build shorter copy where the call to action is at the very top.

5. Build Social Authority

Gmail’s Priority Inbox gives you a quick preview of the role social media will play in email marketing. Your company’s authority will be tied to your presence on social media channels (and to the relationships you have with people on those channels). As Karen said in her presentation, “The ‘spam’ filter is now social.” The key to keeping up with these developments is to build social authority. Experiment with adding a follow-me module in your email communication and allow people to share you offers on social media.