LAST UPDATED ON October 14, 2020

Is An Email Blast A Thing of The Past?

Email marketing vets may be familiar with an email blast, and some may consider it outdated. Here's some insight on whether or not this is true.

If you take a look at the idea of an email blast online, chances are that you may see a mixed reception.

When Spinweb.com included it in their list of “terms that inbound marketers hate,” their explanation came as follows:

“This one really ruffles our feathers because it implies that you are shoving a bunch of spammy emails down your unsuspecting audiences throats. Blast away! In reality, we want email to be strategic, targeted, personalized, and properly segmented. Additionally, we want the content to be simple, direct, to the point, and useful. With this in mind, the word “blast” seems a bit too intense.”

However, what you need to realize is that there’s not much different between the email blast and effective email marketing. Both mean sending out emails to who you think will be part of their ideal audience. So, is this a case of a few bad apples spoiling the basket? Let’s take a closer look.

SECTION 1

Why People Get Frustrated With Email Blasts

Part of the issue that people have with email blasts is due to connotations. A lot of people tend to associate email blasts with a massive set of generic emails sent to just about anyone you could get onto your email list. Part of the reason why this makes email marketing professionals cringe is due to the fact that things have evolved a lot since then. In the infancy of email marketing, this approach could work, but now, everyone is getting too many emails, and running things willy-nilly can easily end up with you getting blocked—the absolute worst thing that can happen in email marketing.

When you hear industry experts saying things like “email marketing is dying,” what they really mean is that the customer base is having less and less tolerance for low-effort email marketing efforts, and companies that are relying on these are dealing with diminishing returns. The term email blast is more guilty by association than anything else, but if it’s not something your audience wants to hear, make sure you don’t use it.

SECTION 2

Reframing Your Email Blasts

If nothing else, one of the biggest assets that email marketing will always have is its penetration in the mobile market. 52 percent of US cellphone owners access their emails from their phones, and this number is growing and growing as time goes on. In addition, you can still use emails to deliver information and added value effectively. The problems start when you send too many emails, and they start to come off as robotic or impersonal.

So, with that regard, you may want to make sure you are targeting and sending the proper emails using email management software. If you can use software to help you improve other presentations, why not apply the same layer of care when it comes to your email strategy? Perhaps the way to frame email blasts isn’t as a widespread spray, but as a set of target strikes. This is a better match for what customers are looking for in your marketing efforts.

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