PatronManager

Folks, sometimes facts are very friendly.

I happened upon a chart today from eMarketer.com, which I think contains all that you need to know about prioritizing your online marketing. The data looks at the behavior of folks who are already online. 

Looks like big and old media still rule the day. And "search engines" (which really means Google) get the top slot for digital involvement.

The most interesting thing to me is that the very next Web-based medium referenced is, ahem, e-mail newsletters. Yup, way ahead of social networking or even regular Web sites.

I've been saying this for, oh, about seven years now, and finally there's data to prove this in context. That's why we also say that sending out e-mail newsletters isn't merely about "doing" it, but about doing it well.

That means great strategy and flawless execution. You need to dig into the field, learn about what others are doing, adopt best practices, and get into the minutiae. That's what will make your efforts stand out, and that's why we offer so many webinars, seminars, and training sessions to our clients. Sending e-mail is easy — and people pay attention to it (as you can see below.) That's why it's doubly important that you do it well.

My advice is to recalibrate the ratio of your digital budgets (both your time budget and your financial budget) according to what you see below.