1. Focus on what’s important. Is your data up to date? Is your data clean and thorough? This will determine your list hygiene and how well you can segment and personalize your email messages. Your data is going to be key in determining the relevancy of your content.
2. Measure your metrics. The most important metrics you can focus on are open rate, click rate and conversion rate. All of these will help you determine ROI and give you insight as to where your emails may need some improvement.
3. Determine how much to spend. Even with the rising use of social media, email marketing is not on the decline. In fact, 51% of B2B email marketers say their email marketing budget will not change in 2011, while 45% expect it to increase. Keep this in mind when allocating funds in your budget. It may be worthwhile to invest more in your email marketing to ensure you are executing your plan in the most optimal way.

For more insight and for the full article click here .

I’ve written about QR codes before but I came across one example of QR code usage (on Drew’s Marketing Minute) that has taken this technology to a whole new level in terms of marketing. See below:

This is just one example of how print is evolving into more powerful tool rather than losing its power as most people seem to think. Options may be expanding for digital marketing channels (social media, mobile, etc.) but that does not mean you should abandon traditional marketing channels. Digital and traditional have always worked well together (when properly integrated) and will continue to do so. As digital evolves, so will print. Do not become distracted by advancements in digital technology and lose site of the exciting things going on in the print world. You could be missing out on an important part of your marketing equation and therefore, marketing potential.

Not convinced that people have embraced QR codes yet? Click here for an infographic posted on Alltop. One interesting fact from the infographic – there has been a 1200% increase in QR scans between July 2010 and December 2010.

It is becoming instinctual now for people to look for links to your social media sites on your website, look for a QR code in your advertisement, and expect personalized marketing messages and offers (just to name a few things). If your metaphorical “phone” (marketing efforts) does not grow and evolve with these expectations you run the risk leaving your customers wanting more.

As quoted from the article, “Email will only get more social.” It will not go away but rather it will evolve to work hand in hand with social media. Mark Schmulen, general manager for social media at Constant Contact, says “Of all channels, e-mail marketing and social media go hand in hand better than any other.” They work so powerfully together because it can work both ways – email can promote a company/organization’s social media sites and the social media sites can promote a company/organization’s email campaigns, newsletters, and promotions. Customers can click back and forth between these two channels while remaining in the same arena (the internet) and without even having to leave their seat.

Schmulen also believes only 10% of Constant Contact customers are using social media to its full potential (not to mention users of other email service providers who are fall into this category as well). This leaves a lot of room improvement when it comes to integrating social media with email. So the question is not, “Should I continue with my email marketing campaigns or not?” Instead, the question is, “How can I adapt my email marketing practices to have them coincide with my social media marketing?” This is certainly a scenario where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Click here for some successful examples of social media/email integration.

• maintain company-related profiles on social networks
• participate in Twitter
• host blogs
• monitor brand mentions
• engage in discussions and Q & A sessions
• upload/share content on social networks
• expand their presence to a multitude of social networks

Whether you are B2B or B2C it is beneficial to engage in these activities not only for the people who already want to interact with your company but also for people who are unfamiliar with your company. Social media can be the first stepping stone in introducing people to your company or organization. According to the same study mentioned above approximately 50% of people who stumble across a new brand on Twitter feel compelled to search for additional information either through search engines or social networks.* From this group about 25% will move on to visit the company’s website directly.

Not only will people happen to come across your brand in social media but they are also actively searching for information or already talking about your products, competitors, and industry on these networks. For example, 46% of Facebook users talk about or recommend products on the social networking site.* In a network of 225 million that means a lot product discussions are going on and that also means there is a lot of opportunity to get in on the discussion and put yourself in front directly of the customer. People tend to trust peers and testimonials more than advertisements and now with this information so readily available it’s only going to become increasingly important that you be present in the same realm these discussions are taking place.

Research is just one part of the buying cycle for individual consumers and businesses alike. Social media is actually relevant to every step in the buying cycle:

1. Acknowledging the need
2. Awareness
3. Research
4. Consideration
5. Evaluation
6. Purchase
7. Applications
8. The Experience
9. Reaction
10. Opportunity for Advocacy

It’s worth your time to think about how your company can become involved in each step and if you think it’s not as relevant to your company because you are B2B it’s time to reframe that mindset and join the 86% of B2B firms that are engaging in social media.**

*http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=SMC/164282

**http://socialmediab2b.com/2010/08/b2b-social-media-statistics/

The tangibility of paper makes this medium, and its message, more real to recipients. It creates a connection and memory that other channels do not. Digital of course still has advantages over paper such as interactivity and the potential for more sensory appeal but the tangibility of paper still creates an impact. Which, again, denotes the importance of using multiple channels.

A blog post from Neuroscience Marketing goes into more of the scientific details on digital versus paper.

So how do you choose which media channels to utilize?

1. Take generation into account. Yes, millenniels will be more responsive to social media than boomers and boomers will be more responsive to direct mail than millenniels but that doesn’t mean eliminating either channel for these groups. Find the balance for each of these mediums as they apply to each generation.
2. Consider how engaged your prospect is with your company/organization. Do they typically open emails? Have they responded to direct mail? Have they ever reached out to you for information? You should always be tracking such data. Dedicating too large a portion of your budget to a group this is not likely to respond will only create a negative impact on ROI. Email is the least expensive way to reach out to those who are not highly engaged and this means saving money on direct mail marketing while not staying completely out of touch.
3. What means of communication do your customers prefer? This is information you should have. If you don’t know, ask them and keep current with this data. A personalized URL with a survey would be the best way to capture such data. That way you can make sure you aren’t wasting money on a channel that is ineffective with a certain person or audience.

As always, these types of analyses and decisions require sufficient data. Data will always be your golden ticket in best determining how to choose media channels and allocate marketing dollars. A blanket approach is no longer an adequate method. Break down your audience into niche groups and tailor your media mix for each. This will both lower your costs and increase your revenues.

I mostly find myself looking for QR codes when I want to visit a website immediately for more information on whatever it is I am looking at, most recently it was an advertisement for clothing. I actually found it amusing that I (yes, a Gen Y’er but still never one to go crazy over the latest technology) found it archaic that I had to manually punch in the website address on my iPhone. I surprised myself with how quickly my behavior as a consumer is changing. That got me thinking as to how many other people would find it really convenient and easy to just have to scan their smartphones over a code to be automatically routed to the information they were looking for…and how many don’t realize it yet just because they haven’t had that option.

Although I do see them from time to time I do think QR codes are still a grossly underrated tool. So back to the title of this blog entry, when will QR codes become the norm already??

The only thing working against this phenomenon right now is the fact that not everyone has a smartphone which is needed to scan the code and be linked to the website associated with it. But it will only be a matter of time until everyone and their brother has smartphones. Non-smartphones will most likely suffer the same fate as VHS players that stopped being manufactured once DVD players hit the market. Now that smartphones are here, they are here to stay and will dominate until all other phones are eventually phased out. This growing market for smartphones means QR codes will become more and more relevant in consumers’ daily lives.

Just as we’ve (well most of us) have accepted social media as a permanent presence in our lives, professionally and personally, we will all most likely embrace QR codes as a common practice too. There is no going backwards in technology. I am sure more and more uses are going to become available for QR codes and they will become harder and harder to resist in marketing as was the case with social media.

Click here to see an example of a QR code in the Iron Man 2 movie poster.

Here are 3 steps you can take right now:

1) Engage customers - The average person is exposed to 5,000 messages a day but only remembers four. If you are not taking proactive steps to engage your customers then chances are your message is one that is easily forgotten. One of the ways you can engage customers is by reaching them through several channels including direct mail, email, and social media. Seeing a message in more than two channels increases the response rate by 10-15%. Another way to engage customers is through conversation. Find out more about them simply by asking (you can use PURL’s to do this) and apply that to future communication so you can reach customers on a more personal level.

2) Build relationships – As mentioned above, use information you can find out from customers and apply it to future communication so the messaging is relevant. Relevance is the largest lever on response in individualized direct marketing and is therefore key in building genuine relationships. Also, keep in mind that relevant messaging can receive a response rate 3 times higher than messages that are just personalized with a name. This is not just a once and done thing though. It’s important to maintain communication with appropriate timing and frequency to keep building that relationship.

3) Track results and utilize data – Tracking results is almost always done with marketing but actually applying the data from the results to future marketing initiatives is something that often falls through the cracks. Utilize data and make necessary adjustments to your plan to make sure you are achieving optimal ROI. 67% of marketing expenditures could achieve significant improvement in results without significant changes and without an increase in investment. These changes could apply to the messaging, marketing mix, and/or integration of different channels and are important to your company’s adaption to any changes in the marketplace.

All in all, you want to ensure that the right person gets the right message at the right time and in the right way while applying the aforementioned strategies. If you keep doing this you can ensure success for your company both in the short-run and long-run.