COMMENTS
Hi Ellie,
I heard a lot of great things about the Email Summit last week! Very jealous of all of you in Miami.
I agree with Nikki & DJ (as I should), but I actually wrote about this late last year - http://www.blueskyfactory.com/fd/091112-Inbound-Train.aspx.
Assuming people are doing it right, it's inbound. Hopefully next year there will be less "both" answers and more "inbound". It's up to the email marketers to make this happen.
Amy Garland
Blue Sky Factory
@amygarland
I would say email marketing is generally thought of as outbound, but certainly creating an inbound affect if used correctly.
Twitter and social media is an outbound tactic as well (you push it out to the world). It becomes inbound when it catches fire, is shared and spreads - just like email.
Come to think of it - it's really semantics though and more marketing speak. When you create a new term (as HubSpot has) - Inbound Marketing - you need to then compare it to other tactics to differentiate (which HubSpot does all the time). My vote is stated nicely in a recent tweet when it compared both "tactics" to how we used to call things a few years back:
Inbound (pull)
Outbound (push)
In the end - there is no tactic that isn't worth looking at for marketers. We the buyers will determine what we respond to and where we like to get our information. In, out, upside down - doesn't matter.
DJ Waldow is a god among email marketing men.
It's tough to reach that balance of inbound/outbound when it comes to email marketing. Getting folks to engage is the holy grail. I would love to see more posts on ideas and/or examples of companies who do a great job of using email as an inbound tool and one that gets their customers engaged.
I use Constant Contact for my e-mail marketing service. It allows me to archive my email newsletters. Excluding search engines, my e-newsletters are my number 1 source for inbound web traffic. Answer: Inbound
If email is either inbound OR outbound, then someone better clue me in immediately because I've got a problem either way.
If it is only INBOUND, then I have to stop emailing my target audience and getting them to visit my tech presentation at the next trade show. Then I have to find another way to create all the enthusiastic and aligned conversations we used to enjoy.
If it is OUTBOUND, then I have to deactivate all the email link buttons on my blog site, stopping my customers from asking very detailed questions about the content of my white papers, blog posts, etc ... and find another way to cultivate all the deeply insightful engagements we would lose.
Accepting the question is the first mistake. Answering it is the second. We all need to start with our personal GOAL, arrange and evaluate all the tools we have available to us (email is just another tool), then use the tools in the way that best suits us.
Skip the contrived debates: increase sales, brand, and image.
Does everyone know that Gail Goodwin, CEO of Constant Contact is on the HubSpot Board of Directors?
Hello? Let's ask her.
http://www.hubspot.com/company/board-of-directors/
GREAT question posted here Ellie,
I am torn on this one, as I advise my customers to use their BLOG to become the new broadcast tool, email subscriptions included. If you rely on email
lists to blast product promotions without a solid education as to what your prospects
want to learn, you may not create great content that is worthwhile to share. I think "Permission" vs "Interruption" is the true metric here (following alongside: value vs. spam).
Does your email interrupt the prospect with a pitch? Or, rather, does it bring value to your prearranged social contract (with your subscribers)? Are you making remarkable, valuable content?
(Disclosure: I work for HubSpot)
I am going to have to go with... both. Depending on the method in which your email lists are generated (opt-in or purchased) you will be facing a different marketing strategy.
For outbound email marketing, I think it is always smart to narrow down your targets more before beginning a campaign. Your open rates and click through rates will drastically improve, and will keep your lists from getting worn out.
I am presently doing email campaigns for a solar panel and heating equipment business, and I find the idea that emailing should thought of only as a starting point for engaging a dialogue with our prospects very stimulating.
It really changes the marketing perspective, with the use of new tools. For instance, my client does not have a blog yet. Prospects who wiewed the message and/or clicked should be an ideal target for such tool.
Thanks for your stimulating ideas!
Gérard de Angéli
As a marketer that has used both an email newsletter and a blog, I say email can be both outbound or inbound. The way I and most of the service professionals I know use email newsletters is to share valuable information and get to know people who have signed up or opted into the newsletter. Done well it is inbound marketing.
Of course, there are lots of businesses that are buying lists and sending emails without requiring an opt in and that is out bound marketing.
I would be delighted to see content on email newsletter. I don't think its relevance has passed and its strength may return judging by how much online marketing has shifted and continued to shift. Many online marketers use both with success.