Don't be mislead entirely by the title of my blog.  I think Email Marketing is a GOOD THING, but it's just not getting the results as it should.  Check out this simple concept...

I've noticed when people subscribe to a email newsletter, most of the time they give their "other" email address.  The "other" email address may not be checked frequently and used for free offers, ecards, reviews (aka SPAM!).  I personally have two emails just for that very reason.  So when people sign up for your...

newsletter, are you getting the return from it like you should?  On average, I would get a 20% success rate for customers opening my email newsletter (5% click through).  I spend $400/year on the email marketing service and hours each week creating the emails and writing the content for it.  Don't get me wrong, I see a return from it, but how can I maximize the use of my customer database? 

You may not know it, but you are sitting on a gold mine with all those emails you gathered.  Think back when you opened your facebook, myspace and twitter account.  You were asked to upload your contact list to see if your friends were using the service.  I hope by now a light bulb is going off in your head!  It is apparent that almost everyone has a social network account.  Heck, even my dad has one and he's almost 60.  My guess is that more than 50% of the emails you have in your database have a social networking account associated with them.  there is no doubt you will get a lot more advertising and interaction with your customers with a social networking account. 

The only issue is getting the friend requests approved or the reciprocal following on twitter.  Don't sweat it though, my guess is that customers will reciprocate the request!