• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 6, 2010

"It's easy to lose the personal touch; it's easy to get disconnected; says Tony Bombacino, chief marketing officer of Restaurant.com. "It's a tricky thing."

Bombacino says his company sends three emails a week. Mostly, he says, the problem is too many emails talk "at" consumers ("push" marketing) not "to" consumers. Restaurant.com gets 30% to 35% of its revenue from email. It has four million monthly uniques, and claims consumers have saved $500 million.

"There is no right answer," he says. "It's most important to listen first." Bombacino says research for its site reveals that customers want to have more fun and for the site be faster when it comes to reviews of its restaurants, for example.

The big question he asks Email Marketing Insider attendees: "Are you learning?"