By Darren Yan
Business Manager (Database Sales)
The AsiaOne Network

Email is synonymous to the Internet as it gave users the means to connect to each other without minimum effort and cost.   Naturally, this attracted marketing professionals to use this channel to reach their target audience as the cost structure makes it an attractive communication medium, vis-à-vis the traditional channels at the early stages of the Internet. 

However, changing technology and evolving user preferences of the Internet over the last decade has greatly reduced the enormous economic benefits email marketing delivered over the same period.  Indeed, the frustrations faced by Internet users whenever they see spam mail in their mailbox has led to email providers developing highly effective spam filters that blocks email of such nature.  Invariably, any filtering done through technology, rather than humans, will result in previously valid emails sent by advertisers being treated as spam.  Consequently, this greatly reduced the number target audience being reached by the advertiser.  Clearly, any email that does not reach the intended inboxes is considered a waste of marketing dollars.

In addition, Internet users today have a wide variety of websites that are designed for their lifestyle needs.  As a result, users can now be segmented into different behavioural segments based on their interaction with the various sites on the Internet. 

• For example, an Internet user who is actively participating in websites that overseas travel and road safety is an individual who is an avid traveller.  This same user may visit a website that tracks currency rates, suggesting that the user is planning a shopping list when travelling. 
• Such is the diversity of user preferences in today’s Internet environment that sending an undifferentiated email marketing message to advertisers’ subscriber base may not be as useful as it previously was a decade ago.  Clearly, it is necessary for an advertiser to update and incorporate behavioural profiles for each user in their email database to ensure that relevant email messages are sent to the right user.  

Today, economic factors, competition and a greater recognition of email’s value have encouraged marketing professionals to re-evaluate their email advertising strategy.   One strategy advertisers should consider is to rent mailing lists that have the scale and behavioural profiles that they are trying to reach.  

• One such example is the AsiaOne email mailing list that has more than 600,000 users who have received more than 20 million emails sent by advertisers over the last three years.  This is made possible by AsiaOne’s direct relationship with their users that allowed emails advertisements to reach their inboxes safely, bypassing today’s email spam filters.

Moreover, the AsiaOne network of online sites provides a steady source of behavioural patterns that constantly update the profile of users on the mailing list. 

• For example, an AsiaOne user who has consistently been reading content on overseas travel and road safety while driving in overseas terrain is a natural target audience for advertisers searching for segments who are interested in travelling and car rental.  The same target segment is also attractive to travel insurers as well as credit card issuers that promote spending while travelling overseas. 

The rules which marketing professionals designed more than a decade ago to manage email advertising campaigns are no longer valid.  Today’s aspiring email marketer need to review their email advertising campaigns constantly to assess their response rate and ensure that their database is updated with information pertaining to their user behaviour.  It is by embracing these new developments that advertisers continue to reap the cost benefits email marketing delivers to their bottom-line.

Besides being The AsiaOne Network’s Business Manager for Database Sales with  more than 10 years of experience in the online and mobile industry, Darren is also an aspiring Digital Media Evangelist based in Singapore & a citizen in the Global "Always On" Community. To learn more about the benefits of email marketing through The AsiaOne Network database, do get in touch with him at darrenyan@sph.com.sg.