• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 6, 2011

PARK CITY, Utah -- Augeo Marketing CMO Ken Greer thinks email marketing has a lot of growth ahead, but marketers might need to let up on the gas pedal a little in order to avoid “email coma.”   

“The problem with email marketing today is ubiquity,” he said at the MediaPost Email Insider Summit.

That's due to a democratization of the medium. Companies large and small have easy access to the tools and costs are low. Greer offered attendees three keys to boosting customer engagement with messages: rewards, group validation and shared values.

Rewards is clearly the simplest to understand. “If the reward is relevant, if it’s believable, if it’s valuable, and if it’s attainable at relatively low cost, the reward will be compelling. It will prompt [a prospective customer] to a position of engagement,” Greer said.

He added that not all rewards need to be financial, but can involve an emotional connection or educational benefit, which people are increasingly seeking.  

Group validation involves tapping into the "comfort in numbers" and a "circle of trust." Consumers are more likely to explore a product or service if people they trust offer an endorsement. There’s a “bandwagon” effect,” Greer said.

Shared values, which can be a hard-to-define concept, involves finding a way to prompt customer attachment because a person’s belief system dovetails with a brand’s core proposition -– be it environmentally friendly, integrity, patriotism, etc.

The end goal is to have people with emotions akin to: "If I find a company like that, then they'll have me for life."

Minneapolis area-based loyalty marketing firm Augeo boasts clients such as Home Depot, Verizon Wireless and NASCAR.