I was interested to read a report “The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2009” that came across my desk the other day. I am a big believer in permission marketing and the use of direct email. This probably shouldn’t be a surprise given the corporate tagline at Ugroup Marketing is Measurably Better. Direct email is inherently measurable. Unsubscribe is the ultimate response of your irrelevance to the email recipient.
As one might expect, given the economic downturn, companies increased their direct email marketing last year. When asked “How has the current economic situation altered your email program?”, the top responses included:
Necessity is the mother of invention, and as much as direct email was a viable marketing channel prior to the economic downturn, I suspect that many organizations will retain it and much of the cut advertising spend, as well as tradeshow budgets of 2009, has disappeared forever.