The Online Advertising Playbook: Proven Strategies and Tested Tactics from The Advertising Research Foundation

Winning Plays

• Email is the most frequent activity by people using the internet and is highly valued by marketers to reach customers and increasingly to attract customers. On the surface, email would seem identical to direct mail (or at least a close cousin). There are, however, a number of factors unique to email that can limit its effectiveness:

  • It needs to be opt-in or permission-based, as consumers increasingly use spam blockers and quick delete buttons.

  • Use of email in newsletters or offers not only must be relevant but should also optimize convenience and simplicity.

  • In order for email to be highly effective, it must connect with action-shopping site, website, or information search.

• The personalization and dialogue potential of the internet is just beginning to be fully recognized by marketers. Email newsletters are the most popular tool used by marketers, but they must be integrated with other elements in the go-to-marketing strategy to be effective.

• The primary strategy for email (newsletters, offers, and others) should be to retain customers and build loyalty. Think of email as relationship building with the potential for continuous dialogue among invited guests rather than an interrupt-and-repeat model of the classic push mode of mass broadcast advertising.

• Done well, email marketing, integrated with shopping, buying, and dialogue, leads to additional word of mouth for the brand (which, in essence, is free). Research shows that word of mouth from friends or trusted experts is ...