Digital Marketing- Email Marketing, Dying or Dead?

There are arguments of the power of email marketing today, especially with the increase of other channels avaliable. 

"Fewer people are opening promotional emails"

Mostly because there are other means of marketing promotions to consumers. Companies have their own social media sites, website and Youtube channels to promote from. 

If you ask any consumer of their opinions, a majority tend to comment on how emails annoyingly fill up their inbox and they end up sending them straight into the spam folder. Whenever you sign up to an online account or buy anything online, one of the first things they ask for is your email address which goes onto the companies data base. From then on you receive daily emails about upcoming promotions, which some people find pestering and actually puts them off re- purchasing. We've all been there, right. 

"This is the same story we heard when email first burst on to the scene and threatened to replace physical mail.  Sure, email replaced a lot of letters and postcards, but direct mail marketing is by no means dead."

This statement is very true, there is of course many other means of marketing today then there was when emailing started, such as social media. But email Marketing is the basics and most simple way to directly contacting a consumer and build a one- to- one relationship. Why would companies want to remove that relationship? Especially as everyone accesses the internet daily and the vast majority are checking their phones/ Facebook/ email every minute. It is even rumoured that social media and email will be integrated (Paul Bates). Google have already integrated with their own Google+ and Google Mail but there is yet to be an integration with the main social media sites. 

"If anything, the opportunity is increasing since so many people are accessing their email on their mobile devices; companies can reach their subscribers anywhere and anytime."

It seems that really with the increase of smartphone users and portable device users the opportunity to reach consumers through email marketing can only grow. These stats give an interesting example of Mobile email usage today:

• More email is read Mobile than on a desktop email client or via webmail. Stats say 44% of email is now opened on a mobile device Litmus –”Email Analytics” (June 2013)
• 90% of smartphone owners access the same email account on mobile and desktop. ExactTarget– “The 2012 channel preference survey” (2012)
• Daily we spend 9 minutes on email via a mobile device, that is 7.6% of the total 119 minutes we use our phone per day. O2 – “Mobile life report” UK (2013)
• 45% of holiday season emails are being opened on mobile – up slightly from before the season began – Experian – Hot holiday trends (2012)
• The number of mobile e-mail users is predicted to grow 28% in 2014 and 23% in 2015 – The Radicati Group “Email Statistics Report, 2013-2017″
  Read More: http://spinnakr.com/blog/brand-marketing/2013/09/email-marketing-is-changing-not-dying/
  The main purpose people say email is dying or dead is because they only use social media to communicate. But that is no means of business communication, which is why email communication is going nowhere. Whether it is business to business or business to consumer, there is the need for professional communication. No one is going to sit on the phone and try and connect or sit on hold for hours, when they can just sit on their phone and simply type out their email in minutes and send!

Digital Marketing- Youtuber Marketing

Youtube in recent years has boomed from posts of funny home videos and cats, to a tool for learning, entertainment and Digital Marketing. Today now most large organisations have their own Youtube Channels, aswell as other social media to market their products or even for helpful tutorials for their customers. Youtube now offer services to advertise through Google Ad Words where anyone can have their ad's appear before or next too related Youtube video's. But this isn't the only way companies can Market over Youtube...

In the last five years Youtube has built a work place for many 'Youtubers' 'Vloggers' and 'Beauty Gurus'. These ‘Youtubers’ are paid to post content on a regular and even daily basis sharing their knowledge or giving tutorials on anything from, beauty products to gaming or DIY to cooking recipes. There are also the videos posted for entertainment purposes from ‘Vloggers’ posting their daily lives and the free-lance Artists posting their own music. A selection of these 'Youtubers' are now famous over the internet and have thousands or millions of continuous followers. 

Companies now have the great opportunity to endorse through these largely followed 'Youtubers'. This concept is also used with Bloggers, but with Youtube it works best with the Beauty Guru's, gamers and cooks, as they can demo the products themselves in their videos. The trust and friendships these 'Youtubers' have through their channels gives them an ability to recommend and sell items in a personalised way, like recommending to a friend. By watching the product/ service being tested out in a video gives their followers a far better review than just anyone's/ or the companies word. 

Before going out and purchasing, anyone can go onto Youtube and search a product review. In the case of buying a foundation, it is something a woman uses daily and the consumer wants to be able to trust it will work how the company promotes it. This is where the consumer gets onto Youtube, searches 'Foundation reviews' and will find a selection of videos where the best 'Guru's' have tried and tested the selection of foundations on the market. The consumer can see the texture, how it looks, how it works with certain skin types and how long it lasts throughout the day. This is a far more realistic and personal recommendation than any make up counter lady can give you in store. Of course, this works similarly with recommending gaming products/ games and cooking equipment. 

Recently, Google have used this kind of Marketing concept themselves when they rented out a house 'Google House' in Central London to promote and demonstrate how their new Google Voice Search works. They invited down a couple of the popular UK Youtubers as a showcase of the Google Voice Search App and where they "transported into Google's future world". Beauty guru Fleur, know as Fleur De Force was invited to the house to demonstrate how Google Voice search can be used to help bring up the types of make-up tutorials and fashion videos she posts on her Youtube channel to help you get ready for a party and even find out the weather conditions. "It kicks siri's ass" she posted. Fleur and another Guru also hosted a Google Hangout while there (Fashion Foie Gras). 

The guys from Sorted Food the owners of the most subscribed cooking site on Youtube were also invited down. They demonstrated how Google Voice Search can quickly bring up recipes, quantity conversions and nutritional information.

"It’s sophisticated enough to handle commands like, “compare olive oil and butter,” bringing up profiles for each, side by side. If you’ve run out of an ingredient, use G-voice again, to “remind me to buy cumin when I’m at my local supermarket.” "

The articles, Fleur's Blog and Fashion Foie Gras Blog, suggest that we will see some videos or press releases where you can find out more or watch what they got up to while exploring Google House. So keep a look out!

This Blog is for University Assessment posts for Year 3 BA Marketing- E-Marketing strategy and Social Media. Middlesex University.These are my academic opinions and I welcome any comments and opinions. 

Thankyou or reading.