Email marketers should embrace mobile, ditch generic ads

Some industry experts believe the dawn of social media put an end to email marketing. In fact, the ongoing use of social and mobile solutions is commonly considered to be a driver behind the effectiveness of email advertising campaigns, as decision-makers are able to gain more valuable insight into what consumers are actually looking for.

A recent report by CIO highlighted several ways companies can improve email marketing techniques to get higher click-through rates, a method commonly used to measure the effectiveness of advertising materials. In today's world, targeting mobile customers is often cited as one of the most important ways to attract and retain prospective clients.

"Email is no longer tethered to a PC or laptop, or restricted to when people have access to their computer," email marketing expert John Hayes told CIO. "People now carry their email around with them everywhere and engage with it frequently throughout the day."

Mashable noted that most marketers intend to invest more heavily in mobile strategies in the coming years so their initiatives can produce more significant results. However, spending more money is not necessarily the only way organizations can enhance email marketing. Instead, firms should look into leveraging data quality tools that ensure decision-makers have accurate, timely information they can use to develop more robust advertising programs.

Move away from producing impersonal ads
In the past, advertising executives thought deploying massive volumes of a single type of endorsement would be the most effective way to gather a large audience. While this may have worked in previous years, today's picky and tech-savvy consumers tend to shy away from promotions that do not necessarily apply to them.

In 2013, decision-makers will begin to recognize that targeted advertisements are the way to go, CIO noted.

"Social media has shown us the value of personal relationships with customers and with smart segmentation, email marketing delivers that all-important relevant, personal content on a larger scale," marketing expert Suzanne Norman told CIO. "[Companies should] explore more targeted welcome notes, shopping cart abandonment promotions and lifecycle messaging - and see the higher response rates that go with them."

As mobile and social solutions continue to gain momentum in and outside the workplace, forward-thinking executives should take advantage of analytic and data quality tools to better understand today's consumer. In doing so, they might be able to launch more effective marketing campaigns that deliver more return on investment.