Email Out of Control

Written By Ted Grigg

Spam is junk mail on steroids.

We spend too much time trying to empty our overloaded inboxes. The best spam filter programs and ISP filters do little to stem the tide.

David Pogue, one of my favorite technology writers said it well in his New York Times article entitled "We Have to Fix E-Mail." He wrote:

At this moment, there are 1,944 unanswered messages in the Inbox of my private account, and 2,730 in the Inbox of my public account. And that’s after taking a deep breath and deleting all the unanswered ones from 2008 and 2009, which I realized would be too embarrassing to answer anyway.

Even though he represents the extreme, I usually get 300 emails a day. My spam filter and ISP use the latest technology to weed out irrelevant information. But the problem continues to grow. I now think twice about signing up for any more newsletters, webinar notices or other subscriptions.

Customer or not, most companies send me far too many emails. With a busy schedule, even interesting emails get deleted just to make it through the day.

How can marketers continue to beat this system? They can't. And therein lies the problem.

Now My iPhone compounds the problem with just a few applications like Groupon, Key Ring Rewards and other judiciously selected programs that deliver compelling offers.

With new technology comes a new generation of reader overload. Solid value propositions and relevant emails have to compete as never before.

Traditional media channels such as direct mail and quality outbound telemarketing programs with a personal touch have become the cadillac of marketing tactics. Due to high costs, television advertising (especially DRTV) direct mail, telemarketing, and even print advertising manage to catch people's attention because quality brands advertisers successfully cut through a less cluttered field when compared to the proliferation of new media.

This is not to say that the Internet, mobile and email do not play a critical role. But they do not represent the panacea some proponents might want us to believe.

All advertising budgets have suffered in this economy, but as a share of market, direct mail has gained market share. Here are a few facts about direct mail expenditures and growth related to total advertising spend.

- In 2007, Over $60 Billion was spent on direct mail -- 23.7% of all advertising expenditures

- In 2009 expenditures dropped 30% -- DM share of advertising grew to 25.6%

- In 2010 direct mail expenditures and share grew again. And I predict 2011 will represent a banner year for direct mail.

Advertisers need targeting and response. That's why direct mail continues to grow in spite of high costs.

Email will continue to grow, but spam threatens its ability to generate large sales volumes. Great ROI without sales volume assures the tenacity of traditional media.

How can we fix email? I think David Pogue's article is right on the money. What say you? 

Ted Grigg

Ted Grigg is a direct response strategist who helps growth-focused companies reduce risk by identifying weak assumptions before they become costly mistakes.

Over the course of his career, Ted has evaluated several hundred million dollars in direct response testing across direct mail, digital, print, television, telephone, and other channels. His work combines direct response strategy, acquisition economics, customer analysis, creative evaluation, offer development, and disciplined testing.

Ted has worked on both the client and agency sides of the business. That experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressures facing executives, marketing teams, agencies, and service providers—and of the problems that arise when activity, media volume, or creative preference replaces a clear economic objective.

His consulting work helps organizations examine such questions as:

  • Are acquisition goals economically realistic?

  • Is the allowable Cost Per Sale supported by customer value?

  • Are targeting, offers, creative, media, and response paths working together?

  • Are tests structured to produce reliable business decisions?

  • Are unproven assumptions being treated as facts?

  • Is the organization measuring sales outcomes rather than convenient proxies?

Ted’s experience includes the development of direct mail and multichannel acquisition programs for insurance, healthcare, financial services, technology, nonprofit, manufacturing, retail, transportation, communications, government, and business-to-business organizations.

For a national direct-to-consumer insurance company, he developed a direct mail format that defeated established controls and helped expand the productive use of compiled prospect lists from less than 10 percent to more than 30 percent of total direct mail circulation within one year. He also planned Medicare lead-generation programs for more than 60 regional and national HMO and PPO organizations, with some programs exceeding sales projections by as much as 60 percent.

Ted founded Wyse Direct, a direct marketing division of Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, where he developed acquisition programs and helped launch a new technology product for Seiko Instruments by generating a predictable flow of qualified sales leads for its national sales organization. As vice president of new business development for the Grizzard Agency, he helped broaden the agency’s strategic capabilities and pursue new commercial and fundraising opportunities.

He is the author of The HMO/PPO Marketing Plan—A Step-by-Step Guide, published by Executive Enterprises, and has written numerous articles and conducted webinars on direct response strategy, testing, creative development, and marketing economics.

Ted earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Abilene Christian University and completed two years of graduate study at Texas Tech University. He is the founder of DMCG, LLC.

http://www.dmcgresults.com
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