Is email marketing dead?

I get asked this question all the time and I know you see it plastered all over the internet. The problem is that it is the farthest thing from the truth!

Yes... email open rates are down but the fact of the matter is that email marketing is alive and well.

In fact it is probably the most important part of any business that is using the internet to get more leads and sales. The money is still in the list!

This era of technological advancement has been accused of “killing” a lot of things. Airbnb is killing the hotel business, ride-sharing threatens the taxi-cab industry, and millennials have caused the death of all sorts of things.

Email marketing is dead…or is it?

The “death toll” of digital marketing channels continues to grow—but we can’t always believe the dramatic claims we hear. After all, people have been saying SEO is dead for years. This argument is weak at best, especially when you consider Google, a company fueled by search traffic, has been on an upward trajectory for 2 decades . Still, the tech obituary continues to announce new victims. One recent claim you may have heard: Email marketing is dead. It’s no wonder professionals feel this way, what with this year’s recent crackdown on privacy policy reform and data-collection protocol. Tech companies—and their tactics—are falling under speculation and numerous marketers have been clinging to the idea that email marketing is obsolete. Today, we’re going to pivot away from this idea. Email marketing isn’t dead but it is changing. Email marketing is evolving, and as marketers, we have to evolve with it.

Why do people think email marketing is dead?

It all started with data.

Advertisers, marketers, and researchers have long been collecting data to learn about users. This knowledge is often used as a way of improving the customer experience. We’ve all been subject to unappealing or irrelevant advertisements. To have advertisements that actually appeal to us—well, this speaks volumes for the way data collection has grown and changed. Still, it would be silly to argue data collection is purely for the customer. At the end of the day, businesses need to make money. If we like the ads we see, that’s great for us. If we use them to purchase items, that’s even better for businesses.

Data got powerful.

As the years have passed, we’ve seen just how far data collection can go, for better and for worse. Just as we saw with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, data can be used for much more than research studies and targeted ads. It’s data’s endless possibilities that have weighed heavily on the EU since the 90s, inspiring the 1995 Data Protection Directive, and most recently, GDPR. (It’s worth noting that the beginnings of the GDPR movement began the same year Facebook was compromised.)

So, how is GDPR related to the death of email marketing?

At its core, GDPR called for a massive overhaul when it came to data collection. The purpose of this new set of regulations is simple: giving people greater control of their information. Because websites had to comply with GDPR by a deadline of May 2018, privacy policies and terms of use were heavily edited and revised. Online businesses of every kind required a new level of transparency. In short, professionals who heavily relied on data collection, targeting users, and segmentation (e.g. email marketers), realized reqierments were about to shift. In fact, email marketers had to deal with new opt-in permission rules, proof of consent storing systems, and the reality that consumers might ask to have their personal information removed.

Where is the best place to start email marketing for my business?

AWeber is an email marketing platform that allows 100,000+ small businesses and entrepreneurs to create and send emails people love . And by sending emails people love, they're empowered to connect with customers in ways that grow their business. From the moment the CEO Tom Kulzer founded AWeber back in 1998, that's been their primary mission. Since then, AWeber has grown into a team focused on helping customers achieve success with email – whether they are building amazing tools and features or providing live support and education. If you are building any business right now and you are not collecting the emails of your leads and customers then you are making a serious mistake.

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