Small and medium-sized business (SMB) marketers are becoming increasingly convinced of the positive results of video email, social media and personalization, according to a new report from GetResponse.
Over 80 percent of respondents plan to use video emails in 2010 and over 90 percent of SMB marketers who use video emails report it delivers significant conversion rates.
More than half of respondents said video emails can increase click-through rates. One in three marketers believes video can improve brand image and increase customer loyalty. Over 20 percent of marketers believe that video emails can also reduce support and training costs. Only 4.7 percent of email marketers do no see any benefits from using video email.
"Today’s marketers are mindful of the importance of delivering relevant content and one-to-one messaging based on preferences and behaviors," said Simon Grabowski, founder of
.
"It’s all about putting the ‘human element’ back into marketing through the use of video and social media conversations."
Other highlights from the survey include:
- Social media: A 113.2 percent increase in use of links to new messages on social media pages; a 109.1 percent increase in use of sign-up forms on Facebook, etc. fan pages; 88.8 percent will increase share options and 71.6 percent more will place "follow us" links in email messages.
- Personalization: 53.80 percent of SMB respondents said they intend to increase targeting and personalization in 2010; 52.40 percent will try to improve email title and subject line personalization.
- Behavioral targeting: Nearly 75 percent of marketers claim that behavioral targeting can result in significant or moderate increases in email marketing effectiveness. Only 2.8 percent did not consider behavioral targeting an effective practice.