Last week, I noticed this tweet from a friend of mine that really struck a cord with me.

With the rise of mobile internet users and the vast number of people who receive email on their phones, Robb is right: when executed incorrectly, email is the new telemarketing.

As marketers or business owners, we must be mindful of our users in all of our marketing efforts. Sure, it might sound like a good idea to send out your email newsletter at 1:00 a.m. so the recipient reads it first thing in the morning, but that was shallow thinking on Borders’ part. Borders failed to take their users into account; grave error.

When email marketing is done correctly and with users in mind, it can be powerful and influential. On the flip side, if done incorrectly, it can be obnoxious and even at times illegal.

So, Borders, give us a call if you want some hints to avoid angering your customers (especially customers like Robb who has 1,337 followers on Twitter who potentially saw this complaint).

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All too often we’re in search of the latest thing to catapult our online performance.  Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook are all the rage, but do you remember blogs?  There was a time when it was predicted that blogs would deliver faster than anything out there.  When these new tools don’t deliver in hyper-speed, we’re off to the next trend!  There is one old-school tool that continues to deliver, time and time again, and that tool is eMail.  Yup, thats right, I said it, eMail.

eMail marketing continues to dominate the digital marketing arena.  Now granted the strategy has changed, dramatically, however those businesses that have kept up with the changes in the customer’s desires when it comes to eMail marketing are seeing great increases in lead generation, subscriptions, and sales.  In a recent B-to-B Magazine article Tom Cintorino, exec VP-digital media with Northstar Travel Media stated “bottom line e-newsletters are still doing great” Tom went on to say that the trend at Northstar is going away from broad-based general interest content and going toward more specific and targeted content.

Improving, or establishing your eMail marketing strategy is vital to success.  No longer can you simply type out content on a whim and expect to gain the payoff you are hoping for.  Your email marketing effort has to have a strategic plan and then it is critical to have the plan implemented.  If you pay attention to your eMail marketing strategy, it will work!

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As you look at your list of customers, how many do you have? Of this number, how many can you say that you have seen, or even talked to in the last 30 days? Ok, how many have you seen or talked to in the last 45 days? Take a minute to do the math, how many customers are in your database and what percentage of these customers are you communicating with on a regular basis?

Are you surprised? Most of us are, when we see how small this number actually is. The fact, however, is that we physically can’t be in front of all of our customers all of the time.

Much has been written about the incredible power of e-mail as a communications tool. There are numerous examples of strategies that leverage e-mail’s power to acquire new customers; build stronger, more profitable relationships with existing customers; win back those who may have drifted away due to a lack of attention; or any number of problems.

Turning a “B” or “C” customer into an “A” or “B” customer can sometimes be a simple as staying in touch, reminding them of the services offered by your company, let customers know about a new products or even say “thank you” for their business.

Don’t get caught thinking that all is right with the world and these moderatly active customers really won’t impact business that much. Increasing consistent communications will keep good customers good and will improve mediocre customers.

Step one is looking at your customer data and adopting a clear set of metrics that will translate into a successful campaign to move the needle on customer activity.

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