CDMP Week: A Layperson's Overview on Email Marketing

Digital marketing has had its share of the limelight as an emerging strategy in terms of reaching out to consumers. But, despite the hype and clamour that surrounds it, most people remain unaware of the many touchpoints that digital marketing has to offer. My involvement in the Digital Marketing Diploma Program says it all. Most people would ask me about it and, once I get through my rather lengthy explanation of how digital marketing works, they’d always answer, “Aaah! Pagbenta sa Facebook!”.

Surely enough, Facebook has become a common digital marketing avenue but to limit oneself within the confines of fan pages – what with the availability of so many options (this is the internet we’re talking about, people!) out there – would just be downright immoral! Build it and they most certainly won’t come. Not unless you rally your troops to knock on every door of your target demographic just to say your spiel. That proved effective, mind you.

I remember waking up to two pastors knocking at our house in the province, asking if they could have a moment to talk to us about God. My grandmother would always insist not to let them in because she knew deep down that they had the capacity to hypnotise her into being swayed into their religion. This was because she knew that she would find it hard to say no to any hard sell if she ever allowed them into her house, just like the time she allowed a door-to-door jeweller to, uhm, hypnotize her into buying gold bracelets every single time he comes to visit.

In that example alone, you get to gleam the power of good old direct selling and how you could work it to your advantage:

• Personalization. Nanay Amy from the Poblacion wants it told to her straight while Tatang Selyo in the barrio wants it adorned with tales from his past. Each consumer behind every door is different and for you to know how and why this is important makes all the difference.
• Consumer Engagement and Loyalty. You get to look straight into Nanay Amy’s eyes (and her eyes alone) and say “Suki, bagay talaga sa iyo ‘to. Bilhin mo na! Tiwala ka naman sa akin, ‘di ba?”.
• Permission-based. But before anything and everything else, despite all the bells and whistles that go with your spiel, you need to get your foot in the door. And, that’s the beauty of it. The moment you do, you know well enough that Nanay Amy is interested in your product and that if everything goes well with your first meeting, she’ll let you in her door again and again and again.

Now, what does this have to do with digital marketing? Everything! What if you had the opportunity to cart that experience online, would you take advantage of it? If yes, then why the hell are you still dependent on your Facebook fan page when you could sell your brand the modernized direct selling way, the email marketing way!

With that thought, I leave you with a not-so-related video just to cleanse your palate off so much nerdiness.

+This post is part of the CDMP Week series, a week-long series of blog posts aimed at explaining digital marketing strategies through offline analogies. This has been partially intended as a fulfillment of one of the requirements of the Certified Digital Marketing Program (formerly known as the Digital Marketing Diploma Program). The CDMP (DMDP) is a one-year diploma course under the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philipppines (IMMAP) and Ateneo's Center for Continuing Education (Ateneo CCE). Enrollees go through a crash course on a number of digital marketing concepts and tactics and, in the end, have the opportunity to be dubbed as one of the few Certified Digital Marketers as recognized by IMMAP. To learn more, visit www.imadigitalmarketer.com or go to their Facebook page here.