Email marketing, still a powerful communication tool for marketers.

I was asked this morning "why is email marketing a great tool for businesses?" Wow - where do you begin? But, my answer remains consistent, email marketing is still one of the most powerful 1:1 communication channels a marketer has at their disposal.

Think about it... start making a mental list of all the communication channels available to you:

Online (Website and Blog)
Face to Face
Telephone
Direct Mail
Social Media
Brick and Mortar
Email
Other?

Aside from picking up the telephone or having a face-to-face meeting, what other channel can provide real-time, personal, 1:1 communication? Even direct messaging via social media relies on email to deliver the communication.

But, the reality is, this channel is a cluttered one. The key to email marketing success is to respect the people you communicate with. Gone are the days where success is measured by the volume of your list or how many emails you can send in a given day. That's just spam.

Successful email marketers invest time, lots of time, segmenting their lists and developing content to resonate with their audience. These marketers are quick to purge disengaged email addresses and are quick to reward engagement.

So while email still remains a great 1:1 communication tool for businesses, the qualifications for success have absolutely changed. Don't waste this powerful channel on an unreemarkable email.