Integrating e-Marketing Into Your Mix
There’s no denying the importance of e-marketing. With the vast majority of business professionals tied to computers and e-mail, communicating electronically just makes sense. Plus, e-marketing can be considerably less expensive with more immediate, easily measurable results when compared with traditional marketing. But behind every benefit lies a trap, like sensitivity to unsolicited e-mail and technology failures. How then can you implement an e-marketing campaign without antagonizing your audience or losing your message in cyberspace?

Integrating your e-marketing campaign with traditional marketing techniques like direct mail and advertising is the best way to get the most out of both sides of the equation. You will take advantage of the vast amount of information you can make available on your website and the instant feedback from e-mail, PLUS the lasting impact and dependability of a printed piece that your audience can touch and save for later.

Here are some easy ways to integrate e-marketing with traditional marketing—and get the benefits of both…

• Update your website regularly. Your website does not have to be flashy to be useful to you and your audience. Focus on good content that is easy to find. Test your website’s effectiveness—ask a friend from outside the organization to browse for the most important information. If your friend can’t find it, simplify or reorganize.
  
• Promote your website in all your direct mail and advertising. “Visit www.mywebsite.com for more information” is a perfect call-to-action. “Register today at www.mywebsite.com” is even better! Make sure the web address is printed correctly and takes visitors directly to the information they need.
  
• Time your broadcast e-mails around recent direct mail efforts and deadlines. An e-mail sent immediately before or after a brochure increases the response rates of both efforts by reminding the recipient to respond and allowing an easy, “click here” option. Plus, unlike direct mail, e-mail allows pinpoint timing—perfect for beneficial reminders of important deadlines, like hotel and early-bird registration cut-offs.
  
• E-write for e-mail and your website. Take your beautifully written direct mail piece and cut the copy in half. Now cut it in half again. Now it’s ready for e-mail. Be professional, but not overly formal. Your website should contain detailed information, not wordy prose. Use bullet points, tables and checklists for best results.
  
• Test your content electronically before committing to print. In just two days you will have a good picture of your e-mail’s success. For a quick and easy analysis, look for a spike in registration. For greater depth, see if your organization can provide open and click-through rates. Good subject lines will garner a high “open” rate—the percentage of people opening the e-mail. Popular content will garner high “click-through” rates—the percentage of people clicking on each link after opening the e-mail. Re-use your most successful content in your direct mail campaign. A good e-mail subject line might also inspire someone to open an envelope. Your most click-worthy content will boost the value of your brochures.

This article appeared in the November, 2004 issue of Show Buzz, the monthly newsletter of the Washington, DC chapter of IAEM.