The art of email marketing seems to be in decline. I’ve seen fewer creative email campaigns and less compelling reasons for someone to hand over their email address. Seems like most web sites are still offering just their newsletter and special promotions, as reasons to subscribe. Not all that exciting when the internet offers so many choices.

Businesses see the benefits of being able to communicate directly and inexpensively with consumers, but lacking a strategy to do so seems to be a consistent theme. Target, a retailer many moms rate very highly, makes the offer, “Sign up to receive special offers and promotions from Target.” To me, that seems more like an offer that Walmart would make. Target known for their style and design quality, all at affordable prices, should be making a play that is creative and more closely in line with their brand.

The email marketing decline is coupled with the fact that spam filters have improved so much over the past two years that getting only the messages one wants is much better. My point being, if a marketer has a strong email value proposition, today there is a higher likelihood of having their message read and acted on, because there is less consumer inbox clutter.

Now for the kicker. Moms are more receptive to email marketing when compared to all other online marketing tactics, and they are checking personal email throughout their day!

And mom bloggers, the influencers driving conversations and trends online, are checking their email all day long and more often relative to other moms.

The lesson here is obvious; opportunities exist for marketers to make strong connections with moms through email marketing, but fresh and creative approaches are required.