The Highest Performing Digital Channel Isn’t New, Often Overlooked

收益好的线上推广渠道并不是新渠道，只是经常被忽视而已。

Continually emerging digital channels present exciting opportunities for marketers. However, despite the array of new channels, the highest performing avenue is often overlooked and not taken into account when you consider how to allocate marketing spend. Of course, I'm talking about email marketing.

线上渠道持续涌现让许多营销者颇为激动，尽管有一些列的线上推广渠道，收益最好的却往往被忽视，并且当你在考虑如何分配你的营销费用的时候，经常也不会考虑到这个渠道，没错，我说的就是邮件营销。

In a successfully executed digital strategy, marketers must include this channel or they risk losing a huge potential for conversions. According toeMarketer, 81 percent of online shoppers who receive emails based on previous shopping habits were more likely to make a purchase as a result of targeted email.

成功的线上营销策略，必须涵盖邮件营销在策略内，否则就很有可能会失去一批高转化用户的风险。根据eMarketer的研究，有81的线上购物者会根据之前的购物习惯来订阅邮件，并且愿意浏览这些订阅邮件来进行购物。

Marketers shouldn’t ignore new digital marketing channels, but the most impactful outcomes derive from simply aligning email and other channels together. That being said, how can brands best connect these channels to make the most of their ad spend?

营销者不应该忽视新兴的线上营销渠道，但是最有分量的盈利其实将简单的邮件营销跟其他营销方式结合起来。这时候问题来了，如何更好的进行品牌推广，更多是在于如何将这些渠道推广方式结合起来让营销费用的效益最大化。

Mobile and Tablets are Key

移动端是关键点

According to Google Analyticsdata, 50 percent of all online traffic is now coming from smartphones and tablets. Subscribers actively check their email, giving marketers access to their inboxes. At the same time, people are increasingly less tolerant of brands that don’t offer the value they’re looking for, in a personalized way.

根据谷歌分析数据中心表明，线上的流量50%是来来自于手机和平板电脑（怎么感觉不像17年的数据，中国的流量比例可不这样~）。订阅了邮件的用户一般都会经常翻看邮箱，这无形是给了营销者巨大的机会。与此同时，消费者对那些无法进行个性化服务的品牌也越来越没有耐心。

It’s no longer enough to make emails responsive and mobile optimized; the entire purchase experience has to be seamless, as consumers move from one device to another, given the majority of consumers immediately delete emails that render incorrectly on their device. A consumer won’t always go through with a purchase on a responsive email campaign, but certainly continually reinforcing security and creating a good user experience will impact those purchase decisions.

仅仅是让邮件能给消费者反馈和能在手机端查看已经是不足够满足他们的，整个浏览到购买的过程需要是无缝对接的，特别是消费者在用一个端口浏览转去另外一个端口的时候，大部分的用户可能会因为页面无法正确在他们手机缓冲过来就立马删除信息了。虽然消费者不会经常浏览商家的邮件营销活动并能产生下单结果，但是持续不断的优化用户体验和强调有安全购物的环境，是能影响消费者作出购买决定的。

Email Subscribers Are Social

邮件订阅的用户也是社交群体

Email subscribers want special deals and most social followers engage because they want to save money, but email shouldn’t be used purely as a promotional channel. According toQuickSprout, marketers that activelypromote social interaction in emails, and showcase the value of following a brand, trigger deep levels of engagement from consumers. Brand advocacy on social media is a result of email marketers sending relevant content, making the consumers much more likely to share the resonating messages on social.

大部分订阅邮件的客户或者是社交网络的追随者都是希望能通过这个渠道来省钱，但是邮件营销不应该仅仅是个做促销的传播渠道。根据QuickSprout, 部分营销者积极的利用邮件来进行社交互动，通过商品展示品牌价值，能引起消费者更深入的参与。在社交媒体上的品牌倡导其实是邮件营销者传播相关营销内容的结果，只有能引起消费者共鸣的内容才能让他们在社交圈里进行传播。

Email Drives Consumer Purchase Behavior -- The Initial Purchase isn’t the End

邮件能促进消费者的购买行为--最开始的下单并不是结束

Consumers subscribe to email offers for various reasons, whether they want discounts or to know when items are on sale. However, according to astudyby MyBuys and the e-tailing group, 41% of consumers say that they buy more from retailers that send them personalized emails. It’s tempting to believe the buyer’s journey ends when a prospect becomes a customer, but the reality is brands need to continue delivering value after consumers purchase -- helping turn customers into brand loyalists.

消费者订阅邮件其实出于很多原因，如他们是想获得折扣，或者是知道目前热卖商品是哪些。尽管如此，根据My Buys和e-tailing的研究表明，消费者会从那些发个性化营销邮件的商家中购买更多的产品。非常有理由相信，下单的买家购物路径就在让观望的用户最后变成下单的消费者就戛然而止了，但事实上一个品牌需要不断为消费者提供有价值的内容来刺激下一轮消费，从而让用户成为品牌忠实者。

Brands need to understand the reach and effectiveness of email is contingent on marketers’ ability to increase relevance and personalization for each consumer segment. While demographic differences affect many preferences, all consumers expect a personalized, integrated, cross-channel experience, and have high expectations for how their data is used in emails. Marketers must continue to collect and organize data, generate holistic customer and segment views, implement automation and personalize where possible in order to drive continued response.

品牌的负责人需要明白的是，邮件营销能通过根据不同消费者群体特性，增加关联和个性化服务从而有效接触消费者。虽然人们之间差异较大会影响他们对很多事物的偏好，但是所有的消费者对个性化，综合性的交叉渠道体验有非常高的要求，并且对他们的信息将如何在邮件营销中进行运用有非常大的期待。营销者需要不断收集和优化信息来获取得消费者更全面的用户画像，从而才能将自动化和个性化的内容信息推送给消费者，并以此实现不断刺激用户反馈。

Despite the recent explosion of marketing techniques that leverage newer channels, studies continue to suggest email remains king. Email marketing is growing to be even more accepted by consumers, therefore updating and improving email marketing strategy needs to be a focus for all forward-looking digital marketers. Millennials and Gen Y are desirable and strong audiences for email marketing, but now more than ever, the experience needs to cater to what they want, how they want it, and where they want it.

尽管目前营销渠道不断涌现，如何运用好这些新渠道，并持续研究邮件营销则是关键。消费者逐渐接受邮件营销，因此所有的线上营销者都应该专注于，不断更新改进邮件营销的策略跟手段。90后甚至00后是邮件营销的理想用户，坚实粉丝，尽管如此，整个体验还是需要不断改进来迎合他们的需求，去了解他们想要什么，如何获取并且在什么场合。