Meeting the Email Challenge

We have established that consumers receive a lot of email (an average of 361 messages per week); yet, they like to receive messages that are relevant and of perceived value. Taking a clue from this research, savvy marketers can adjust the focus of their email campaigns, as well as the nature of their marketing messages, to better meet consumer needs. In the long run, this will improve response rates and conversions.

This is a move toward making email marketing more of a one-to-one relationship tool rather than the mass media promotional device it has become.

Note, that when we refer to CCM in conjunction with email marketing, the concept is different from CCM software solutions that integrate business documents for communication.

Customer Communication Management

While a Customer Communication Management (CCM) program is easy to implement, many companies have yet to adopt this strategy. Email is still a relatively new medium, and many corporate executives are unfamiliar with the enterprise impact of their email programs. Email marketing campaigns are frequently executed at the departmental level on an ad-hoc basis.

However, without centralization or established email policies, a company cannot learn customer preferences, which are important in today's email marketing environment. Customer preferences can also be used advantageously to promote your business. A CCM strategy would establish customer preferences by asking them to specify the type of messages they want to receive and how often they'd like to receive them. A company can learn what its customers want through customer relationships, better serving customer needs. This strategy improves email response rates while generating sales. It can also reinforce your company's brand value.

Creating Brand Value With Email

We all know the value of branding. Research shows that branding is a major objective for most companies when using any marketing strategy. Brand value is what makes customers choose your product over your competitor's and keeps them coming back. You want customers to see your brand in the email "from" line.

The email "from" line has always been an important factor. A recent study confirmed that the "from" line is the most compelling reason to open permission-based email, indicating the significance of sender recognition and the power of brand names.

CCM principles help you build brand value, which is essential in establishing long-term customer relationships. Email recipients associate the brand with the relevancy of the message. So it is important to know what your customers want and how often they want to hear from you, sending them relevant messages at the desired frequency.