Reading the post relating to this topic by Brian Solis left me a little cold. I tend to hate anything relating to marketing yet find myself deep in the belly of the beast day to day and have done for many years, it is a love hate relationship which I cannot escape.

My main gripe comes from the source of the data. It is hardly surprising that if you review a study paid for by ExactTarget that it shows email still comfortably in the middle of the playing field neither being good or bad for generating sales. Considering ExactTarget started as an ESP and continue to promote email marketing as it’s key driver it’s going to look favourable. I am of course not claiming wildly that they have fudged figures, of course not, but you wouldn’t publish a report for Ferrari stating that 80/100 members of the public surveyed stated that Ferrari’s were only driven by moustachoid middle aged men who hate their wives and have gloves to match the tan leather interior.

Here’s what I think of the 3 channels that were reviewed. Continue reading →