None of that profile is likely to be unfamiliar to you as a reader. Even amongst millenials who are more e-mail averse (see this NYTimes article from 12/2010 for a look into the trend), e-mail remains a form of communication…but only one form, and a situational one at that. Yes, e-mail is necessary at work, valuable in e-commerce world, and potentially useful for detailed communication with a friend. But, the sheer volume of e-mail I receive makes diminishes its usefulness.

Yet, in it’s 1Q E-mail trends report (Epsilon.com:  http://bit.ly/lUfOZg), Epsilon reported:

• An increase in open rates (23.3%) both quarter over quarter (by 5.6%) and year over year (by 4.2%)
• An average click rate of 5.9% which represented only a slight decrease from the prior year (6.0%).
• A 3.0% conversion rate that was the strongest over a two year period.

It is important in evaluating e-mail activity to understand whether the data incorporates “service” messages…e-mails sent for transactional or customer support purposes… which, according to Epsilon, show the highest open rates (37.5%) and click rates (7.9%) of all e-mail. Epsilon’s data does include service message sends.

Across all age demographics, users are becoming more conditioned to get electronic statements, check for transaction confirmations, and review reservation reminders than ever. This means that the same characteristic that drives people to read e-mails as work, are now driving readers to their personal Inboxes — they NEED to check e-mail, like it or not. That creates a very real opportunity for marketers who understand how to target and deliver relevance and value.

In an August 2011 report, Pew Research notes that e-mail and search remain the top two most popular activities among adult Internet users, with 92% of online adults using search and an equal number using email. Counterbalancing those optimistic stats is the cold reality that most Inboxes are flooded and readers are increasingly likely to be focused on messages from specific senders they truly value…or that they know they need to open (such as bills). Finding time for marginally interesting content just not at the top of the list. In this environment, following good practice (clearly identifiable brand/sender, compelling subject, solid content that rewards the reader for opening, targeting strategies that drive solid relevance) is critical to success.

With all the emphasis on social media and mobile marketing, it is easy to toss aside boring techniques like e-mail. But, especially as the medium becomes a real for delivering transactional information, the medium can reward those who use the technique well.

Check out this this excellent animated infographic from Alex Trimpe, a student at CCAD (Columbus College of Art & Design), for some eye-popping factoids about Facebook.

The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.

Then for some sobering counter-balance, read the well-constructed post on Fortune.com titled “Facebook: Where marketing efforts go to die?” While loads of marketers chase down the magic formula for engaging customers via Facebook, writer Kit Roane serves up tasty nuggets like:

“Razorfish’s recent 2011 Liminal study points out that consumers prize a few things when engaging with a company. They want a modicum of trust, a feeling of being valued, a sense of control, and they want the experience to be efficient, consistent and relevant to their lives. So, where do consumers choose to go when they want to “engage” with a brand?

The Razorfish survey found that despite the gobs of time people spend on places like Facebook (1 out of every 8 minutes online), they don’t use Facebook when they want to connect with a company.”

Personally, when I use Facebook, it is not because I am dying to see ads or be solicited. Of course, in truly hypocritical modern fashion, I enjoy the free character of Facebook, so I guess it should not be a shock that ads will creep into the experience unless I want to fork over the dollars needed to keep my space ad-free.

And therein lies the great challenge of Facebook — how to deliver marketing content to users without being obtrusive, annoying or obnoxious, since the users are not there with a shopping first mindset? Successful Facebook presence is less about advertising than it is about engagement. Look at pages like:

• Bare Escentuals
• Zappos

and you will see that the pages promote conversation and community while making customers aware of specials, etc. The behavior is much like putting in a store in a town…you want to be where buyers are so that you are easy to engage when the time is right.  Putting some content in place, being “current”, and encouraging conversation by simple techniques like asking questions — are not necessarily expensive tasks. However, to be effective, companies must be authentic and consistent. That means that creating a Facebook presence is not about build a page or two. It is about building a way of conducting business. It is about philosophy. And it takes real commitment, which over time can add up in both time and money.

For me as a consumer, I find the Facebook environment to be a unique laboratory; a place to explore consumer interests and behaviors in ways we could never conveniently or cheaply do. This makes it a must-be destination for some of my company’s customers, and certainly for me as a practitioner. But, I encourage clients to understand that it is still a work-in-progress, and one where flashy investments by some major brands will capture headlines. But for many brands, especially in consumer markets, having an outpost in this new environment is an essential part of everyday operation, even if the only direct value is the learning that will come from the effort.

I was on vacation in Stowe, VT last week. The condo we stayed at had a full kitchen, and as was my desire, I spent evenings preparing meals for my wife and I plus our guests. One evening, I decided I wanted to make Braised Short Ribs with Sundried Tomatoes and serve them on a bed of Sardinian Fregola with Pancetta. All well and good, but where to find all those ingredients in Stowe, VT.

Turns out a small specialty foods store in town had the fregola, pancetta and sundried tomatoes. But finding the short ribs was another story. After driving around to multiple stores including the large Shaw’s in Waterbury, I realized I was carrying my Android phone…so a quick Google search of “Butcher Stowe VT” yielded Green Top Market in Morristown as the top native search result. A click to their very professional web page, a click on the address via Google Maps, and off I went to Morristown…about 8 miles north of Stowe.

Their website had headings for their Artisan Butcher Shop, a Wine and Beer Pairing Guide, their commitment to local farmers, organic produce…you get the point. When I got to Morristown, the store turned out to be tiny, but impeccably maintained, and carrying my short ribs along with other fine meat, produce, wine, baked goods…all at good prices.

All this in the middle of nowhere (Morristown is stop sign enclave outside of Morrisville…a small town itself).

This story embodies everything that experts teach about Internet marketing. Their search results helped me find them, the website presented a professional image giving me confidence in driving out-of-the-way to get to them, and their products paid off on my journey…encouraging me to spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, and now my blog. Millions of businesses of all sizes could learn from this simple example.

Oh. And the Vermont organic beef short ribs were exceptional.

These days, buying yogurt or ice cream offers a lesson in business value.

Take my favorite Breyer’s. What used to be a 1/2 gallon container went to 1.75 quarts…then quickly to 1.5 quarts. The near-imperceptible change seems to go unnoticed by most consumers, thus the prevalence of this sneaky way of controlling cost. Instead of raising the price, companies reduce the quantity.

And ice cream is not alone. One pound of coffee is now 11, 12 or 13 oz. A 1/2 gallon of orange juice is now 56 oz. A cup of yogurt is now 6 oz. Even toilet paper has caught on…spartan Scott 1000-sheet, single-ply rolls are now narrower.

That’s what happens when you get commoditized. COGS become a bigger and bigger piece of the economic decision process. This happens in every market…from inexpensive consumer goods to big-ticket electronics to industrial purchases like jet engines.
Maintaining price leverage means maintaining either real or perceived differentiating value. Perceived value is why Coke gets more per oz for its product than other cola drinks. Real and/or perceived value is why IBM can charge more for services than many smaller firms. And many would argue that perceived value is why Apple customers are willing to pay double the price for their purchases vs. Dell customers.

In the tough economy, with price-sensitive consumers influencing decisions, companies are foregoing the tough work of value creation in favor of product shrinkage to maintain a price point. But, this is not a long-term business strategy. And even if the recession drags on, eventually, companies will need to find a way to coax more dollars from thrifty consumers.

In the past, marketing alone could bolster a product, but the Internet has leveled the field in many ways, thus forcing companies in many industries to rethink value concepts to help drive differentiation and brand leverage. It is something every business must do to maintain pricing power.

And so, my ice cream purchase has helped me to focus again on how I drive value in my company. Hopefully it can help you do the same.

Apple. Google. These are companies that are fundamentally rethinking many of the technology platforms we grew up with. And in so doing, they create business opportunity and economic evolution. But, every company needs to do the same thing in its own business if it wants to remain competitive.

When I worked for IBM, the internal motto was “Think”. I think that remains a good starting point. But today, I would challenge that a more effective motto for all companies would be “Think. And Rethink.”

• Coke could simply say that Pepsi was made from genetically-altered cat urine. So what if it wasn’t true.
• Microsoft could tell people that future versions of its products would offer a perfect touchscreen experience…even if they had no intention of pursuing that direction soon.
• Exxon could spend millions of dollars through shadow organizations to supply the reputations of its competitors without having to disclose its actions.

As I continue to get bombarded by non-stop advertising and direct mail for the Nov 2 elections, I have become deeply jaded about all candidates and am speculating why we do not hold people who aspire to elected office to a higher standard than we hold even the most competitive and aggressive corporations?

• Brand gets an e-mail opened. Brand can be a person or a company and that information belongs in the Sender Name field, since that is the only truly reliable position for display in e-mail readers.
• Subject line amplifies the desire a reader may have to open an individual message. After a reader has checked out the Sender, if it is someone they trust, they will scan the Subject Line to get a hint about what is inside. Make sure your subject line is clear and informative, keeping as much info as possible in the first 60 characters.
• Once they open, make sure you have a text intro clearly stating the contents of the piece and linking readers to an online view, as well as a mobile view for many topics.

E-mail marketing is a technique that relies on disciplined, thoughtful execution. Simple things like a proper Sender Name make a huge difference in reader response, so don’t waste time and money because you failed on the simple stuff.

In our work at Cierant with enterprise customers over the past two years, I think this concept has matured into a pervasive business applications development trend. We are seeing more demand than ever for applications that specifically address a point demand vs. generic apps that force trade-offs in functionality, usability, etc. — what I have termed here as microsolutions. The trend reflects several facts:

• First, we can develop and deliver customized applications faster and cheaper than ever. Put differently, it is an economically-viable proposition for both developer and customer.
• Second, business is evolving so fast that customers increasingly acknowledge that ROI on large-scale software implementations cannot be guaranteed. Small, targeted point applications that drive immediate ROI are easier to rationalize and approve.
• Especially following the ‘Great Recession’, users are more focused on their immediate tasks, goals, results…and less-focused on big picture objectives. Right or wrong, this is driving interest in point solutions.

The arguments over suites v. best-of-breed in software are not new, and certainly, custom solutions have always existed in software development. What has changed is user expectations for specificity and simplicity, user need for speed of interaction, and developer tools that empower fast, affordable creation of relatively sophisticated applications. In a world where simplicity of design often outweighs completeness of function, the drive to smaller point solutions gains momentum. With individuals experiencing increasing access to applications for everything imaginable through their desktops, portables or mobile devices, it is not surprising that they are translating those experiences into their business requests.

A recent example in which we created a campaign management tool for a pharmaceutical client that specifically, but narrowly, addressed the needs of a small group of users, is a case in point. This narrowly targeted application does one thing, guide users through execution of specific types of marketing campaigns, but it does it well, and has seen broad acceptance. Comparatively, more generic tools provided to the same client do not generate the same degree of attention and utilization.

One could argue that this example resulted from a client simply exploring a business problem — and that is certainly true. But is also reflects a growing comfort with the potential and value of software applications. Ten years ago, the client would not have asked if there was a way for software to help. Today, there is a tacit presumption that software CAN help. That evolutionary change in user mentality will continue to drive requests for targeted point solutions, which will drive innovation in tools and techniques, which will drive more demand….and on goes the evolution.