Introduction
Old is new again, and boring is the new sexy. At least, that is what we're seeing with regard to email marketing's renewed role as a central digital communications hub during this rough-and-tumble economic time. A recent StrongMail study showed that more than half (51 percent) of the nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009 to focus on programs that yield a higher return on investment, such as email marketing and search. On the other hand, many plan to decrease spending on costly, less targeted programs like advertising and trade shows.
This is a rare opportunity for all digital marketers -- not just email marketers -- to thrive in a difficult and challenging environment. Not using this opportunity to greatly improve your email marketing program for the sake of your broader digital efforts would be short-sighted and foolish.
That said, where should you focus such efforts this year? In this article, I will discuss five ongoing shifts in the fundamentals of email marketing, as well as how these changes should influence your campaigns.
