Came a question last week:
I’ve been hearing from Dan Doberman that he (and many in his Marketing Camelot) are seeing email open rates (and consequently, clicks and sales) cut in half for the past couple of months.
Are you seeing the same trend in your own marketing? So far I’m not, but wanted to hear your views on this.
My ex-spurt answer?
Dan is one of my best pals and also one of the finest marketing minds I know. Frankly, he’s one of only about 4 people on this planet I (irregularly) hop on Skype with to talk about marketing with for hours (literally) at a time. And, let’s face it, that was an excellent email (and made many good points). In fact, by my count, that’s the second time Sir Doberman of Chateau Dan has sent it in recent months (I got it twice in the same day last week — he sent it to his buyer’s list too).
I will assume it must be working like gangbusters or he wouldn’t keep sending it.
But, I can’t help it.
I MUST have some fun with this.
You see, I have yet to get a direct mail letter about the death of email about this.
I keep checking my mailbox outside each day looking for it.
I also keep asking the postman if he’s seen it, have been complaining to my local Postmaster about it, and even burglarized my neighbor’s mailbox to see if she got it by mistake.
But you know what?
So far, nada.
Have only heard this via *email*…
(Actually, truth is Dan DOES show up in my mailbox via his excellent print newsletter The Doberman Dan Letter where he sometimes rails against email in favor of offline marketing — still, I couldn’t resist ribbing him a bit with this — and told him I would — and I would completely deserve it if he declared the death of elBenbo in his next email…)
Anyway, to answer your question:
My sales are doing great and certainly not cut in half.
But, there are always going to be hiccups, gmail playing games with their inbox, major autoresponders being on ISP black lists (temporarily or otherwise), delivery issues, etc. Dan is 100% right about those things happening Internet wide right now. And, just as it’s always been (and always will be), for people who don’t know what they’re doing when writing emails and who don’t qualify their opt ins better, it is less effective, while for those of us who do know what we’re doing writing emails and who do qualify our opt ins better it’s all good in the email ‘hood.
More:
Any medium can die as a marketing tool.
(Ask the people who did broadcast fax — wiped out with the stroke of Congress’s pen.)
And, it could be email really will die some day.
But, until then, here’s something to think about:
One guy (can’t remember who) a few years back launched a product about how to sell with video sales letters using a *text* sales letter that had a headline proclaiming the death of sales letters. And, a few years before that, there was a big drama-queened-up report about the death of Internet marketing itself.
My point?
Death of marketing always comes with an agenda.
(Just like my agenda is always to talk up email — since that’s what I use and teach, which is why you should take ALL of us with a grain of salt until you test out what we say for yourself.)
But, on email’s behalf allow me to paraphrase Mark Twain:
“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
Also, I just mentioned having better opt ins.
Well, in ye olde August (yes, I’m already promoting that bad boy) “Email Players” issue, I am going to talk about how to make some tweaks on your website to dramatically ramp up your opt ins with your current traffic.
Social media people will likely roll their eyes with what I have to say.
(Remember, agendas: their agenda is not email, it’s social media, and vice versa)
But, since when have I ever cared about what they think?
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Ben Settle
