Email can boost the ROI of other marketing efforts, and vice versa. In this article, Doug Marshall tells us how:

"It is an unfortunate reality that, in many organizations, marketing is broken down in silos, and even though a company’s message may be consistent from one channel to another, the channels do little to help each another. Take email. Email is often treated as a separate channel when in fact it is proven to improve the performance of many traditional marketing methods.

With very little effort, smart marketers can use email to improve the ROI of direct mail and help target print, broadcast and online messages. On the flip side, marketers can leverage existing customer touch points to improve email marketing programs:

Use Email to Support Direct Mail
Typically, direct mail is scheduled and sent in bulk. These drops are expensive to produce and post. For the cost, direct mail typically garners low, single-digit response rates; but these response rates can be markedly improved by adding email to the mix.

Data-level integration
Companies can target print, broadcast and online messages based on any number of criteria, but it can be difficult to collect data necessary to segment your constituents. One way to gather more information is to do it slowly. Constituents are usually willing to offer up information if they trust you, and in small amounts. If you use a little information in a trustworthy manner, they may consider giving you a bit more information. Email simply happens to be a great way to implement this technique of progressive profiling.

How can your existing marketing methods help your email marketing programs?
Identify every touch point your company has with constituents — customer service, technical support, brick & mortar points-of-sale, package inserts, direct mail, online shopping carts, theater ads, billboards, radio, banner ads, sweepstakes, affiliates, co-registrations, search engines, radio, television, et cetera — and turn those touch points into email address collection channels.

By sending email messages in conjunction with traditional marketing messages, you can increase responsiveness to your messages. By collecting email addresses at every turn, your traditional marketing methods can extend the reach of your email marketing programs. It’s a win-win proposition. With a little creative thought, it can be a highly profitable one."

Read the full article on iMedia Connection.