At the recent Online Marketing Show, Adestra ran an email clinic. Attendees spent time with an Adestra expert who provided feedback and useful advice about how they could improve their campaigns.

Main Lessons

Data, data and more data is the main factor holding back B2B and B2C email marketers

Data Management:

Many marketers are only capturing email address and failing to use follow-up communications to capture further information. From demographics to coherent reporting lines to feed back recipient behaviour, marketers' databases are limited to contain only the information from the first contact.

Reporting:

drowning in simple metrics such as clicks and opens, many marketers are unable to use the results of their campaigns in strategic decision making or for calculating return on investment (ROI). Many marketers are finding that their senior management perceive email as a cheap channel and not a traditional, measurable direct marketing channel. Only being able to provide limited reporting feeds this view.

Tracking technology:

many marketers do not use robust tracking systems, finding them technologically complicated. Costly web analytics packages are being deployed in some cases, but on the whole, many marketers are ignoring simple tactics such as duplicating a product marketing page and tracking orders through it.

Steve Denner, Director of Adestra commented "After a long day and many conversations with many email marketers, almost everyone I've met uses email marketing intelligently. However, it is really refreshing that these marketers recognise there are ways in which they can improve their marketing further and I'm glad that Adestra have been able to provide some practical and helpful advice to help them do this."

This confirms the empirical findings of a recent Adestra survey

Adestra have conducted a detailed survey of 65 UK based marketers to investigate what they believe are the main challenges facing them within their email marketing. Both B2B and B2C companies participated including companies such as Ford Motor Company, Coors Brewers, Prudential, Investec Asset Management, RAC, Future Publishing Ltd, Cotton Traders and Reed Business Information.

Main Findings

• 34% of B2B and 29% of B2C marketers in the sample agree that the growing, cleaning, and management of their email contact database is the aspect of their email marketing program that they could improve most
• When considering what 'hot topics' marketers wanted to learn more about to improve their email marketing, both B2B and B2C marketers voted for the same aspects:

• Deliverability: ensuring messages get to inboxes
• Message design: optimised design and lay-out of messages
• The future for email: new emerging technologies within email marketing e.g. rich media

B2B marketers want to learn more about best practice lead generation email programs whereas B2C marketers prefer to discover more about eZine newsletters.

4 out of 5 respondents in the sample plan to use email marketing more in 2006.

Reviewing the survey results, Paul Crabtree Marketing Director of Adestra, commented

"Interestingly, both B2B and B2C marketers are facing similar challenges despite using email marketing in different ways. They want to learn more about issues such as deliverability and spam and most recognise that there are faults within their existing programs, especially in the way they manage their email contact database"

He continued "With 80% of the UK marketers in the sample planning to use email marketing more in 2006, and the willingness of the sample to accept that there are numerous ways in which they could improve their email marketing program, I urge marketers to consider working with email marketing specialists such as Adestra to use their expertise when developing their email programs"

Learn from other marketers

Working within email marketing for over 5 years, Adestra's email experts have real-life experience of working with B2B and B2C players alike including publishers, event organisers, travel/ tourism providers, charities and many more- a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others!

Contact us

We would welcome the chance to discuss your email marketing objectives and plans, and would encourage you to contact us.

Free email marketing white paper

Adestra have produced a white paper on the challenges that today's UK email marketers are facing when trying to implement their email marketing program

The research is based upon a survey of 65 marketers before the show, discussions with over 170 contacts during the show and our ongoing dialogues with our clients. It includes Adestra's suggestions on how you can overcome challenges including:

• Improving data management: email contacts and feedback loops
• Find relevant case studies to learn from
• Sifting all the data from your email campaigns to find actionable information
• Overcoming the office politics associated with email marketing

To receive a free copy of this white paper, please go to www.adestra.co.uk/email_marketing.

Paul Crabtree is presently Marketing Director of Adestra (http://www.adestra.com), a UK based digital marketing agency that specialise in inbound and outbound email, fax and SMS broadcast solutions. Adestra's client portfolio includes many UK based publishers including Janes Information Group, Informa, Lexis Nexis, OUP, Blackwells and others.

Previous to this role, Paul was responsible for heading-up online marketing for Informa Telecoms' publishing division working on a portfolio of reports, newsletters, ad-led vehicles and the industry portal telecoms.com.

Paul will draw on his 5 years of focused experience in working in online marketing for publishers.