Being an email marketer in the heart of Silicon Valley is tough. Shiny object syndrome pervades the culture here and people show interest in the latest and greatest over the tried and true. I've had people refer to it as "shag carpet" - so yesterday.
Social is all the rage when people aren't even sure how or if it's going to be effective. I have to admit, that's what makes living here great - we figure things out.
What Top Right is figuring out is how to help lots of people take full advantage of email marketing. In many ways I view the problem as people not figuring out how to set the clock on the VCR. If you don't set the clock, you can't set the VCR to record stuff you want to record when you aren't home. And, isnt that one of the most compelling benefits? Remember that?
The email equivalent is "batch and blast". That's what the large portion of email marketers are doing today - blasting away. They haven't set their clock to do automation and targeting...
None the less, that hasn't stopped the growth and prevalence of email marketing as a tool. Today the WSJ did a profile on ExactTarget. They highlight that the little ole email marketing company from the cradle of tech innovation - Indianapolis, Indiana - is doing $100 Million in sales. Constant Contact had over $129 Million in sales in 2009.
I guess lots of people still like shag carpeting.
