Email Marketing: A pillar in the foundation of social media, a 43-to-1 ROI channel, a conversion heavy interactive medium,...
I love infographics as much as the next geek, but an infographic on Google’s 2011 revenue is a must have. Check out this infographic created via Wordstream at http://www.webanalyticsworld.net/2012/01/how-does-google-make-money-2011-revenue-infographic.html
Umair Haque has just graced me with a relevant post from the Harvard Business Review that struck me on a personal note. My career as well as my time here as a citizen of our wonderful planet has been scrutinized lately. I personally have been challenging myself to question actions, motives, commitment, and direction of what I do in tandem with the perception of success. We’ve been told as Americans that success is amassed through different financial or tangible additions to our lives – when really it’s up to us individually to decide what measures our success. As people we all are equipped with different levels of skills and traits that will never fit into the molds of a societal projection. Without exploration into who and what we are, we’ll always question ourselves.
Here’s a link to one of his latest posts that rang true for me – http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/12/mastering_the_art_of_living_me.html
Explore what makes you think of success outside of what you’re told is successful. If money and fame was not an option – what’s next?
This is a great perspective of SEO, as Google changes their direction with how their algorithms work and are influenced. Well done SEOmoz and Wil Reynolds.
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/never-worry-about-an-algorithm-update-again-a-history
Here’s a great article on Google’s plan to change the search experience with Google +. Very interesting read.
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-is-bigger-than-we-thought-its-totally-going-to-change-how-the-web-works-2012-1
Congratulations to Aaron Kahlow and team for this! I had the privilege to meet Aaron and have dinner with his team about a year ago and have supported their cause ever since. Great acquisition by TechWeb.
Viva la Education.
To all who know me and those who may just spectate my email marketing life,
As you may or may not know, I’ve as of late been on the free market looking for the next step in my career. The last few months have been stressful and busy, my time filled with lots of to-do’s (phone calls, emails, meetings, interviews, webinars) and just life in general. Through this time I thought about the great beyond; what lies ahead for me, where I want to go, what I want to do, as well as who I want to be at the end of my days. Toiling with where I can add value and be a productive person/employee in whatever industry accepts me has been tough, truly.
Looking back at my decade long career in interactive marketing I’ve seen growth, challenges overcome, high-fivable success stories, and mind-numbing speed bumps that make me cringe. I’ve seen a lot, been part of some great things and really questioned my goals in what I want to do. I find enjoyment in many things and have earnestly considered moving out of email into a new chapter of my life as a marketer and a person.
With that in mind I’ve spent hours talking with friends and peers in the industry trying to make a decision. One friend in particular has been pivotal in helping me clear through the noise; with logical questions and insightful advice this person is beyond a mentor to me, giving me a clearer perspective on where I should go. I owe a lot to this dear friend. Alongside this advice, I’ve been able to integrate thoughts of past and future into a vision of what I can be, as well as want to be.
So, what does Rory want to be?
An email marketer.
I will always find things I like, I will always do things that interest me, but I’ll always have a marketers mind for email. My passion lies in the industry that’s given me the most reward and the most stress. Even if I left the industry I could never really stop doing it – I love it.
Thanks to those who helped find my marbles.
Viva la Email.
Video-in-email is a rarity; it’s an unconventional, tricky to apply, ultra-personal online channel that’s a bit hard for everyday marketers to adopt. But, why? Resources and education. The current issue with marketers and businesses with adopting email – ability. Very few companies have staff on-hand or vendors readily available for video production and editing. Whilst this won’t always be the problem, it’s been my opinion that this is the biggest roadblock thus far.
Through my career history I’ve been privileged to be a part of many different sides of the online marketing world. I’ve wandered through; agency work, independent consulting, corporate marketing manager (email marketing), Director of Marketing for an ESP (email service provider) as well as running a small web business with a few employees (Start-up). During this time I’ve noticed a big change in the way marketing departments have given attention to the online medium – by hiring SEO’s, email marketers, statisticians, social marketers, etc. But, it’s been intermittent with the hiring and fostering of the video marketing positions.
But why?
In my opinion, the adoption of previous technologies are still in cycle and the noise of social media has taken precedence in regard to the channel preference for video dispersion. Businesses and companies are still learning how to create successful email marketing campaigns, measure the data from the campaigns (as well as learning about web analytics programs), leverage social media channels, and conversion inspired web design. There’s no room for another item on the marketers plate or better yet, the business owner. Video-in-email will be adopted and is going to be a fantastic channel for high ROI campaigns and elevated consumer engagement rates. Marketers right now are experimenting more-and-more with the video-email infusion and it’s effects on the bottom line. (Thrillist.com just recently sent out a video within their email newsletter)
Until, the level of video educated online marketers rises or the usability and functionality of video marketing software becomes more intuitive – video for small to mid-sized businesses will be sparse.
I still believe in the marriage between email and video, but they’re still working on getting the date on the calendar. Until the ISP’s and email clients RSVP for the big event, these two fated love birds will just have to focus on getting an easy-to-use product ready for the honeymoon in the Bay of Consumer Engagement.
Viva la Email.
