It’s hard to believe that the midway point of 2018 is almost here. What trends are underway from an email marketing standpoint so far? Here are five of my observations:

• SMB Business Intelligence in High Demand: SMB prospect data remains in high demand across the broad B2B business landscape, as companies seek to reach and mine this huge and fast-growing market segment. Dun and Bradstreet reports that well over half (58%) of small businesses (defined as under $5M in revenue) reported a profitable Q4 of 2017 and anticipated growing their revenue 9.1% on average in 2018. As a result, our larger customers and even SMB clients themselves are eager to tap into this important business demographic.
• Data-Driven Marketing: At OMI, we’re witnessing the spiraling use of data in marketing first hand. We’re seeing a greater variety of clients rely on data and analytics to drive successful email marketing campaigns this year – from larger enterprises to SMBs. In fact, marketers employed at SMB organizations have become much more astute at accessing and leveraging data to fuel their marketing campaigns. This is leading to increased email campaign personalization, automation, lifetime value (LTV) and other benefits for their companies.
• Email Leads All Channels with Data: A new study by Forrester confirms the extent to which data is impacting email marketing, and in our experience at OMI, it’s clear that it leads all other marketing channels when it comes to leveraging data. That lead is going to grow, too. In the year ahead and beyond, we’ll see the email channel optimized in new ways by AI, machine learning and other data-driven technologies to empower marketers to reach their customers faster, more dynamically and with greater personalization.
• Data Obstacles Still Exist: The Forrester survey also revealed the data challenges that continue to impact marketers. Only about half of the marketing professionals surveyed base their non-email marketing decisions on data and instead admit they rely on personal intuition and experience. This is due, in part, to siloed data and the use of disparate platforms and data types. Even further, less than half of the survey respondents say they trust the accuracy and scalability of their data for use across a wide range of channels.
• More B2B Companies Doubling Down on Acquired Data: This year in our business we’re seeing larger companies doubling down on acquiring B2B email data to accelerate their ability to reach 2018 revenue objectives. Some of these organizations have approached us somewhat late in their business cycles, having tried to connect with B2B prospects in other ways that have not proven successful or cost-effective to this point. They’ve concluded -- before it’s too late -- that acquired data quickly opens the door to new opportunities and can drive business growth without busting your marketing budget.

One of the top reasons these larger companies are turning to us for acquired SMB email data to fuel their campaigns is ROI. The SMB market not only responds well to email, but also converts quite well – and the cost advantages of email over direct sales are considerable.

The mid-point to 2018 is upon us and the year will be gone before we know it. Hopefully you are leveraging customer and prospect data to optimize your email campaigns, uncover new markets, and reach and convert prospects into paying customers.

If you feel you’re falling behind, contact us. We can get you back on track to ensure your year is a success.

Outward Media’s accurate, targeted email data can help you achieve better email marketing ROI by targeting your best prospects – including millennials and other generations -- and, ultimately, converting more prospects into customers. Take a look at our case studies to find out more.