Monday, September 29, 2014

Email continues to be the most effective digital tactic

Marketeers have consistently rated email as the most effective digital marketing tactic - as can be seen in the research published by Marketing Charts:

(http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/marketers-continue-to-rate-email-the-most-effective-digital-marketing-tactic-46295/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink).


But what means to be most effective in the first place? One could measure effectiveness by ROI, but then how is return defined -  increase in sales, in leads? Although I agree that ROI (sales) is probably the best way to measure the effectiveness of a digital tactic, different channels work better for different purposes and objectives and it is hard to imagine that email would have superior performance when it comes to brand building or capturing demand for example.

As the article states, people could also attribute email effectiveness to the fact that it is a tactic usually perceived as easier to use. We can never forget the multi-channel attribution challenges - how likely is email to be more effective once the recipient has had previous contact with your brand through social, video or simple banner ads?

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