Distribution Channels, Part 4: Email

And now, part 4 of our series on Distribution Channels: Email.

While text messaging, Twitter, and in-app chatting may be younger, sexier forms of online communications, email is still the overwhelmingly dominant method of staying in touch and informed.

For advertisers, high-performing email traffic comes from highly engaged users who have signed up for email subscriptions. When users sign up for email updates from a trusted merchant or site, they're often given the option to receive news or offers from related categories or brands.

Since these users choose to receive emails on specific subjects, they are more likely to respond favorably to emails from trusted email publishers. These publishers cultivate lists of engaged users who opt to receive offers, and pull ads from adMarketplace targeted to users' identified interests.

As eMarketer reported:

Favorable feelings towards email advertising stem largely from marketers contacting only those recipients who have granted them permission to do so, as well as from the personalization and relevancy common to such messages. Those efforts leave consumers with a greater sense of control over their relationship with a brand and a perception of having gotten reciprocal value from the interaction.

There are two models of email advertising:

One Click Model. Email publishers pull specific ads into the body of an email. When the user opens the email, the coding in the body of the email allows them to ping adMarketplace for an ad targeted to the user. Or, if an email publisher has a specific direct advertiser it wants to promote, it will custom design an ad creative for a specific offer.

Two Click Model. Email publishers create generic ad copy for a specific vertical, like, for example, Auto Insurance. When a user clicks on the email, it takes him or her to a landing page with adMarketplace ads, where the user can choose which offer(s) to click on, review, and purchase.

Both models require users to opt in by indicating interest in receiving emails. And because the users choose to see ads specifically related to their interests, email advertising often leads to high conversion rates.

adMarketplace understands that email is still a vibrant and comprehensive ad delivery format. By leveraging our robust data platform we are able to consistently surpass the performance expectations of this medium.

Part 3: Distribution Channels, Part 3: Toolbar Search Party
Part 2: Mastering Type-In Domain Traffic
Part 1: Flipping Through the Distribution Channels