Is Email Marketing Dead?

The question about email marketing being dead comes up frequently on message boards and, since we provide one of the premier email marketing and autoresponder services, it’s an issue that needs to be addressed.
In my opinion, the answer is yes…
…and no.
When I first started marketing online, email was almost a novelty. Will Rodgers said, “I never met a man I didn’t like”. Well, “back in the day”, I never met an opt-in list I didn’t like! I signed up for them all, I think.
Autoresponders were just taking hold as a serious way to market online and I was awed by their potential. You might be surprised at the number of people who personally wrote me to apologize that they hadn’t responded to my email from last week – when, in fact, that email had been written a year prior and was loaded into my GetResponse autoresponder!
Most people were not as web savvy as they are now. And the inbox explosion (or implosion, depending on how you want to think about it!), which would take place in latter years, had not yet begun.
But things have changed.
A lot.
And if you are still operating like the early 90’s then – yes, Virginia – your email marketing is either dead or dying a slow death.
If, on the other hand, you have adapted to the new rules of the game, email marketing is stronger than ever. For instance, this article at Marketing Charts states, “Direct mail and email generated the best return on investment along media channels in 2006, according to respondent – both B2B and consumer marketers – to a new Harte-Hanks survey done by CSO Insights.”
When surveyed, email marketing came in third relative to its overall success of target marketing, as well as third out of 11 areas in strategies that were increasing the most in importance.
So, is Email Marketing Dead?
Not on your life!
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “The money is in the list.” Believe me, that’s hasn’t changed. What HAS changed is the methodology to build, support, communicate and effectively sell to that list.
We, at are committed to helping you get the most from your email marketing investment. Be sure to bookmark this page or sign up for our RSS feed, so you can keep up to date on the key email marketing strategies and up-to-the-minute news that can affect you.
And, whether you are a newbie or an advanced marketer, send us your email marketing questions so we can address them in future posts.
To your success!
Debbi Bressler
Email Marketing Specialist