The top three e-marketing trends for 2008
Based on an analysis of its CheetahMail clients' e-mail marketing campaigns in the UK during 2007, Experian has predicted what it believes will be the three most important e-marketing trends that will see widespread adoption in 2008.
The company predicted a sharp increase in the number of e-mail communication campaigns using three specific techniques:
- Dynamic content The company's analysis showed that, compared to the first six months of 2007, the second half of the year saw a 220% increase in the number of campaigns using dynamic content. Dynamic content enables marketers to send personalised and targeted e-mail messages using customer-specific data to create communications that directly relate to the recipient's history, interests, and social and geo-demographic background.
According to Steve Lomax, European managing director for Experian CheetahMail, "The three trends we've identified for 2008 reflect the fact that e-mail marketing is a cornerstone of brands' digital and integrated marketing strategies. Next year should see exponential growth in the number of campaigns using dynamic content to provide total content relevance."
- Remarketing and win-back In the second half of 2007, there was a 75% increase in the number of campaigns using remarketing e-mail messages to help re-engage lapsed customers, as well as those who had left web sites without completing a purchase that they had begun.
"Remarketing techniques will come of age in 2008," Lomax predicted. "Brands will be really focused on reducing customer churn and maintaining e-mail volumes, and remarketing will prove invaluable. Brands will be missing a trick if they fail to try to re-engage lapsed customers as market competition increases."
- Transactional messaging Compared to the first half of the year, the last six months of 2007 saw a 66% increase in the number of brands sending order confirmation and delivery of goods status messages to their customers. As companies seek to engage and interact with their customers more often and more meaningfully, this trend should continue to increase in 2008.
"These operational messages are often one of the most neglected aspects of e-mail marketing," warned Lomax. "It's encouraging to see more brands used them to keep their customers informed about, for example, the delivery status of an item they've bought. Next year, Experian believes that brands will use these messages as a matter of course as part of their CRM strategy. It's a small but highly significant way for brands to show their customers that they're on top of everything."
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