It's been a whirlwind first quarter with online marketing continuing to bloom - if not boom - in 2008.  Despite an economic recession, shrinking traditional advertising budgets, and "boom" being a word you're not hearing much this year, spending in online marketing and email in particular is expected to remain strong and continue to grow.  See the lead article below for eMarketer's projections and perspective.

Within the online marketing industry, February emerged as a sort of unofficial "Email Marketing Education & Awareness" month with not one, but two major industry conferences held almost back-to-back.  The DMA's Email Experience Council hosted its first conference in San Diego February 10-13, followed only two weeks later by the third annual Marketing Sherpa Email Summit in Miami February 24-26.  Both events offered abundant learning and networking opportunities; we summarize their distinctions in the second article below.

All in all, as winter turns to spring the sun is shining brightly for online marketing.  If you're challenged by budget justifications and keeping search or email marketing a high-performing component in your mix, we can help!

as reported by eMarketer Daily, March 2008 

Is it any wonder that - even in a year of the Olympics and a presidential election - US advertising is struggling?  Almost all US advertising, anyway.

In the midst of the doldrums, like the Energizer Bunny, Internet advertising is still going strong.

"Even if its rate of growth is declining slightly," says David Hallerman, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, US Online Advertising: Resilient in a Rough Economy. "US online advertising is proving to be far more robust than other media channels."

eMarketer predicts that this year online advertising will grow to nearly $28 billion and account for 8.8% of total US ad spending

"Even more impressively," sayd Mr. Hallerman, "in 2009 online advertising will reach $30 billion and account for fully 10% of all US ad spending."

It is important to note that even as growth rates decline through 2009, overall Internet ad spending increases will remain in positive territory, the mid-teens or higher through 2011.

"This growth, even if less than before, will surpass all other major media," says Mr. Hallerman. Don't make the mistake of thinking the Internet is impervious to downward economic pressures, however.

"Whatever label you slap on the current economic climate, US ad spending both online and offline will be shaped by overarching business trends," says Mr. Hallerman. "While Internet ad spending is in no way immune to a recession's impact, it is more resistant to ad spending cutbacks than are other media."

When it comes to email marketing specifically, Hallerman has this to say.  "At its core, Internet advertising remains more oriented toward direct response objectives than branding goals, with about two-thirds of overall spending going to direct response formats.  The Internet's nature as an interactive medium makes direct response more effective than any of the other measured media."

In fact, according to a July 2007 McKinsey study, email marketing topped the list of select online marketing tactics used to achieve marketing goals by companies worldwide.  For goals from brand building to direct sales to customer retention, email was the specific tactic most cited by marketing executives.

What were the key differences between the EEC Evolutions Email Conference and Marketing Sherpa's Email Summit, and which should you attend next year?

First, both events were wildly well-attended and each sold out.  The EEC Evolutions conference reached capacity at about 500 registrants while the Marketing Sherpa Email Summit claimed some 800 in attendance.  And while both conferences boasted similarities in overall format and programming content, they tended to attract slightly different crowds, hosted uniquely different networking opportunities, and focused on email marketing subjects from different angles.

Industry thought leaders, email service providers, and both beginning and experienced email marketers were prevalent at the EEC Evolutions conference in San Diego.  The event opened with a fun and successful ice-breaker - a networking harbor dinner cruise.  Keep people captive on a boat, and they're sure to not only meet one another, but also get pretty jovial!

Throughout the remaining two days, industry advocates led some of the keynotes as well as the breakout sessions which tended to focus less on "nuts and bolts" email education and more on strategic, evolving industry concerns such as deliverability improvement, compliance, performance improvement, testing, mobile messaging, and the impact of social networking .  Jupiter Research's David Daniels as well as Microsoft's Craig Spiezle - founder and chairman of AOTA lent the voice of both industry analysts and ISPs to the event, respectively.  EEC founders and industry advocates Jeanniey Mullen, Chad White, and Ali Swerdlow along with legal and regulatory experts from both the DMA and FTC gave email marketers a comprehensive overview of the current email marketing climate. 

The Marketing Sherpa (MS) Email Summit, on the other hand, has evolved after three years as the more hands-on, how-to email marketing conference and this year's event agenda bore that out.  Although both events hosted pre-conference half or full-day "boot camp"-style training sessions, the MS Email Summit in general seemed more geared to entry-level email marketers and especially, those involved in daily email campaign design and implementation looking for practical tips on improving campaign performance.  Despite leading vendors in attendance at both events, there seemed to be fewer thought leaders and industry advocates at the MS Email Summit than at the EEC event.

Marketing Sherpa, however, excels at teaching by showcasing real-world case studies presented by client-side email marketers, and big brands from Dell to Career Builder to Publisher's Clearing House were plentiful.  Also unique to the MS Email Summit (and highly effective) were its "1-on-1 Consultation Clinics," which provided individual reviews and private consultations or critiques on email creative, deliverability, testing, landing pages and other subjects.  Networking at the MS Email Summit was somewhat limited, with an off-site awards ceremony on the opening night.  Otherwise, it was limited to lunchtime.

Unfortunately, vendor opportunities at both events were, from what we heard and observed, fairly dismal.  Each event's agenda was so jam-packed with keynote and breakout sessions that exhibitor traffic was light or non-existent 90% of the time.  Nonetheless, all the key players exhibited at both events.

All in all, whether you are newer or more experienced in email marketing, looking for formal education or just to keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening in the industry, seeking real-world success stories or tried and true tactical best practices, each event has plenty to offer.  Perhaps next year, they won't be scheduled so closely together.  But if they are, you'll have plenty of opportunity to gain new insights and meet new people at either.  See you there!