After shying away from e-mail following the dot-com crash, business-to-business direct marketers apparently are embracing it again, and not just for retention.
Eighty-four percent of the B-to-B DMers recently polled by Direct say they’re using e-mail for marketing, up more than 13% from last year.
While higher postage rates are a natural explanation for a boost in e-mail activity, greater accountability doesn’t hurt, either.
For example, Jane Kaiser, president of New York consultancy Eclipse Direct Marketing, says she recently was able to prove to a top office-supply merchant that simultaneously sending a catalog and e-mail to customers resulted in a 25% lift in response vs. mailing the catalog alone.
Kaiser adds that she’s noticed increased interest from B-to-B marketers for the fourth quarter that can’t be explained solely by seasonal activity.
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