Dela Quist, CEO of Alchemy Worx (and self-proclaimed Mick-Jagger-of-email-marketing) discusses where email fits in the customer journey, why the concept of sending the right message – to the right person, at the right time — isn’t viable without email, and has some advice for email marketers everywhere.
Here’s some of what he had to say:
1. Relevant targeting impossible without email
“Without email, the concept of sending the right message to the right person at the right time isn’t viable — it’s just too expensive…and the time it takes to get the message out makes it almost impossible”
2. Email is ubiquitous
“Email is everywhere — [it’s] the No.1 thing people do on their phones and No.1 application online. What smartphones have done is put email with you everywhere”
3. Advice for Email Marketers
“Email works in two ways: Branding at the top of the funnel and conversion at the bottom; we need to learn to optimize the top”
“There’s a tendency to think of email marketing as ‘bottom of the funnel’ – about optimizing the conversion. But, email is also a powerful branding tool, and equally effective at the top of the funnel.”
“Look at the branding opportunity that every email that you send gives”
Want more of the skinny on customer journeys from Connections 2014? Watch this interview with Joel Book, Principal, Marketing Insights at ExactTarget to learn what’s changed in the customer journey, what brands are doing it right, and who would win in a steel-cage death match: Katy Perry or Godzilla?