• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 27, 2024

Ryan Phelan, an email thought leader from Texas, is at it again. He has penned an article, arguing that email investment is slipping.  

Companies can double their email revenue, but too few firms are up to it. 

Instead, they are spending money on shiny new objects. “Paid media investment in search, social media and digital display advertising is soaring, along with offline spending on event and influencer marketing and TV — all at the expense of marketing technology, human resources and agencies,” he writes.

In addition, he is seeing “a pullback of resources from digital marketing, which has been the historically winning solution. The cornerstone of that solution is email marketing.” Indeed, email is the top ROI channel for most companies.”

Phelan continues: “This is not a widespread move yet, but I see more companies taking their eyes off the ball, and I am concerned. For example, the number of companies using all-image emails has increased dramatically this year. That points to production shortfalls and a lack of data-informed messaging.”

So where should they be investing? "Marketing automation — which includes journeys, triggers and transactional email messages — has always performed better than promotional messages,” Phelan states.  “Transactional messages in a well-run email program might represent 4% of the overall email volume but deliver at least 50% or more of your email revenue.

Companies should also hire an email accelerant. 

Phelan provides more insights in an email exchange.  

“The overriding message is that email has been the saving grace for companies for the last 25+ years,”  Phelan writes. “At the center of this is our personal connection with the consumer.  If you have a customer obsession, email is not the channel to sacrifice.” 

He adds: “For too long, email has been thought of as an adjunct to a grander strategy. To be honest, it’s a central player in any strategy. Just because you can send a bad campaign and make money is a loser’s bet. You want to beat your projections, smart email is the way.”

Phelan concludes: “I have been an email practitioner for over 25 years working with the largest companies in the world.  I have never seen email lose when companies put their shoulder against investment.”