The Economic Challenge: E-mail success in a tough economy - DMNews

The Economic Challenge: E-mail success in a tough economy - DMNews: "Online Exclusive
The Economic Challenge: E-mail success in a tough economy
Dianna Dilworth
December 15, 2008

While times are tight for marketers and consumers alike, now is as good a time as ever to use e-mail marketing. E-mail is cheap, measurable and affords marketers the ability to test, target and measure in ways that more traditional channels such as direct mail and print cannot. Companies looking to weather these tough times should take advantage of the channel and refine their e-mail programs.

“Since e-mail is quick to set up, design and deploy, marketers can expand or contract their campaigns as necessary to accommodate budget changes,” says Chip House, VP of industry and relationship marketing at ExactTarget.

Here are four ways experts recommend tackling the tough economy using e-mail:

Segment, test and be relevant

Know your audiences and segment them accordingly, says Kelly Dedman, VP of client services at CheetahMail. “Test and optimize creative approaches, types of offers and offer thresholds to get a sense of what might drive response. Consumer behavior this year may be quite different than i"