The marketing world is fully enamored with social media. But with all the focus on social, author Dale Traxler of Practical eCommerce, reminds fellow ecommerce marketers not forget about email marketing. “Email may not be trendy,” says Traxler, “but it’s cheap, easy to measure, and easy to target. It’s a good place to do testing, it keeps your brand visible, and at the end of the day it delivers results.” – We like the sound of that!

Some of the Traxler’s reasons for keeping a focus on email marketing?

• Click through rates are still higher than online advertising.
• Lists are easy to build. Traxler says, “ For online retailers, it’s easy to grow your email list by promoting it on your website and through your social media channels. Unsubscribe rates are typically low, so your list will almost always grow.”
• List segmentation is easy and great for targeting customers.
• Conversion rates are high.
• A/B testing is easy.
• It’s inexpensive.
• Email adapts well to mobile.
• There’s isn’t any conversation to monitor.
• Email is easy to measure.
• Templates are easy to build and customize.

To deliver effective content to your customers, Traxler suggests sending more than just email promos. “Talk about your industry, trends, new products, even what you did on your summer vacation. Use emails as a way to connect more personally with your customers. You have more space than you do on Facebook or Twitter — take advantage of it.” You know what’s the perfect example of this? An email newsletter! And, we’ve got just the post for you to read: 5 Gold Rules to Creating a Significant Email Newsletter.

The best way to use email marketing – according to Traxer – is to integrate with other tools and platforms. “When you send an email, use Facebook and Twitter posts to direct people to a copy of it. Or, use Twitter to solicit email subscribers by offering a benefit to sign up. Because Twitter is a viral platform, the offer to subscribe may reach hundreds of people that haven’t heard of you.”

With all the attention being paid to social media lately, how have you been adjusting your marketing strategy?

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