October 07, 2008
Article

New Chart: Slow Rate of Adopting an International Email Focus Creates Big Marketing Opportunities Overseas

SUMMARY: International email marketing remains a low priority for most marketers – even as they add more and more overseas names to their lists. This slow response may create some big opportunities for marketers who think globally.
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Today’s chart is part of this year’s research for the annual MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, which launches this week. Part of the Guide’s mission is to help you work through some of the complex cultural, legal and localization issues of international email marketing.

Email lists continue to grow with subscribers located beyond domestic borders. So, marketers face the challenge – and opportunity – of thinking more strategically about how they send email on an international scale.

International email marketing is a priority for only slightly more than one-third of North American marketers – with 15% describing it as a high priority. An additional 37.5% say it is on their radar screen but have yet to formalize a strategy for optimizing their international email marketing efforts.

Why think globally?

- The weak dollar makes American-made products and services attractive to overseas buyers. Wouldn’t you be interested in, say, working with a company in the UK if their products carried an automatic 50% discount?
- Signs of economic cooling are strong in the U.S. while still-growing global economies need high-quality products and services
- Building an international clientele can help insulate your organization from localized economic slumps.

With distinct advantages to thinking globally, the fact that most marketers are so slow to adopt an international focus could make this a golden opportunity for some. When it comes to thinking globally, there’s no time like the present.

Useful links related to this article

Not a Subscriber to Sherpa's Chart of the Week? Click Here to Get a New Chart Delivered to Your Inbox Every Tuesday!
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More Research Data from Sherpa:
https://www.marketingsherpa.com/membertour.html?view=research

MarketingSherpa's Email Summit '09:
http://www.sherpastore.com/emailsummitcert09.html?9722


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