Frieder M. Egerman (Benchmark Email) “Email marketing is not about sending this monthly newsletter anymore”

frieder benchmark email

Today we interview Frieder Egermann. He began his career as Junior Producer at Yahoo! and has worked for selected international Internet companies and projects in the US, UK, Spain and Germany before joining the Benchmark Email team in 2015. He is responsible for the UK, Ireland and the German language market.

Automation has been a big issue for the last couple of years but will definitely continue to be this year. Automation is not only about saving time and money, but also about being more precise and giving the right content to the right person at the right moment. Big enterprises have recognised this already, but now it’s the moment the big, broad mass of companies will start to implement it at smaller scales.
AI and dynamic content is also a big topic right now. Not every company might already be prepared for it, but 2019 will definitely take us a big step forward.
Last but not least, 2019 is the year after GDPR which has changed the game for many players in this market. To many it must have appeared like a big threat but it has actually given us the framework for secure and serious email marketing too. This will definitely be the year to settle a new quality-based focus on email marketing.

What errors do you see being made in email marketing? How would you solve them?

I hear it every day when new clients sign up for our service: “Oh, we just want to send a newsletter once a month or so!”. Many people have not understood that email marketing is not about sending this monthly newsletter anymore. We always read about the fantastic ROI of email marketing, but this does not mean, that you can just put together a newsletter in some minutes and people will start buying your product. Here are some factors that less experiences marketers tend to forget:
Segmentation: Don’t send the same content to your whole database.
Personalisation: In a similar way to the previous point, use all the information you have about your subscriber to address him as personally ass possible.
Engagement: Invite subscribers to interact with you, and forget about those who have not shown any reaction in a long time.   
Goals: Set your goals and define a strategy before you start. Don’t only think about what you want to send but what the subscriber will be happy to receive. 

What role does email marketing play in e-commerce? How does is power conversion?

You cannot imagine one without the other. There are two main fields where e-commerce can hardly de without email marketing:
Lead to customer conversion: You have people that are interested in your products, but have not purchased yet. A well designed, automated email funnel will guide them there.
After sales and loyalty: Once the subscriber has actually email can make sure, that he is actually happy with the products and comes back for more.

What technological innovations are being introduced in the world of email marketing?

Marketing automation is still one of the top innovation, above all because it can constantly be improved, offering more and better possibilities to automate the right customer journey for your subscribers.
List quality has been recognised to be one of the most essential aspects for successful email marketing, so more and more tools and functions around how to get a clean list and keep it up to date are coming up, from list verification, bounce management, client and subscriber ratings, auto segmentations etc

How does benchmark differ from other email marketing platforms?

Mainly, the three competitive advantages of Benchmark Email are:
Easy to use. The tool is designed for three types of users: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Whether the user has experience or not, you will find a tool adapted to the needs of your business.
All in one. Within the tool there are different campaign editors, tools such as a / b tests, mailbox verifier, focused lists, surveys, registration forms, user segmentation, affiliate program, master accounts and sub-accounts for marketing agencies.
Marketing automation: any PREMIUM plan starting from the smallest available includes professional automation. Most competitors charge them extra.
And most of all our Customer Service, which has actually received prizes. At Benchmark we take the success of our clients truly serious. We do no limit our service to providing a platform and answering some questions once in a while, but actively offer advice and guidance to lead each of the users to success.