According to a new report from Frost & Sullivan, feature-rich platforms and the best practice of opt-in emails can make the email marketing of SMBs even more successful.
“Email continues to be one of the most widely used marketing channels among small midsized businesses (SMBs),” the report summary reads. “It allows SMBs to cost-effectively and immediately deliver attractive, rich, targeted, and multichannel content and calls-to-action.”
But precision is needed to enhance email marketing effectiveness, according to the report, entitled “Boosting Small Midsized Businesses Email Marketing Effectiveness.”
“Evolving SMB needs are encouraging email marketing vendors to continue refining their platforms. For instance, they are offering tools like tap reminders and working marketing messaging into transactional and customer care emails,” said Frost & Sullivan Information & Communication Technologies Industry Analyst Brendan Read. “Increasing customer use of mobile devices with limited form factors is making emails shorter and potentially less value-rich, driving vendors to create and execute mobile-optimized content. This will prove crucial as marketing emails compete with each other, as well as with non-marketing emails and channels for limited customer attention.”
The report also notes that chat apps and messaging are fast emerging as new — and competing — interaction channels.
“SMBs must look to use these tools to communicate and market to customers as well,” suggests the report.
What about spam, the enemy of marketer email?
“While Internet service providers are making their platforms more user-friendly, private, and secure, it could be challenging for SMBs to stay on top of these changes that may impact email deliverability,” noted the report.
“Should these challenges and other looming obstacles remain unaddressed by SMBs and vendors, the future of email as a marketing channel will be at risk,” stated Read. “Email, then, could shift from being dominant to limited; like print catalogs and direct mail have become to an older audience. Therefore, it is imperative that steps are taken to develop email capabilities.”