A Tsunami of Emails? Blame a Leaky Reporting Structure 

Sending too many emails erodes consumer engagement for 85% of companies. So, why are brands like Amazon and Groupon exempt from this effect? And who’s responsible for deciding how much content is too much? Making content a strategic function that reports into the business can plug up these holes in your decision-making. 

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Aired: December 9, 2022 

Read the transcript 

Hello there and welcome. How much email is your company sending right now? Well, a new study says these 15 brands are sending far too many. How much is too much, and how do you get your arms around managing content? This is what’s new that you need to know.  

Hello everybody. Robert Rose here with the news. It’s what’s new, but – more importantly –what’s important in the world of content marketing. And for the best in best practices – you can always go to contentmarketinginstitute.com. 

As we get into the final stretch before the end of the year, it’s holiday time. And whether its B2B or B2C, you may feel like it doesn’t matter if it’s a holiday or not – our brand sends way too many emails.  

But a new study out by Brand Keys (via AdAge – registration required) says that while there are many brands that consumers say send far too many emails, they don’t necessarily take a hit to their brand as a result. 

The study found that companies such as Amazon, Macy’s, Groupon, Gap, and Home Depot sent way too many emails. And for 85% of the list sending too many emails erodes consumer engagement. However, for Amazon and Groupon it seems to not be annoying people to the point where it erodes opinion about the brand.  

What’s the secret? Utility and value. In other words, if you continue to provide value and utility – even if you exceed what’s considered too much content – then you don’t take a hit. It’s as simple as that. 

What’s our take here at CMI?

Well, it’s all about getting our arms around the content itself. In a word: governance. That’s the topic of my Rose-Colored Glasses column this week.  

So many times, the reason that we’re creating too much content is because we haven’t made content a strategic function that reports into a part of the business and is responsible for determining how much water goes over the proverbial dam.  

Related: How Strategic Content Planning Helps You Say Yes – and No [Rose-Colored Glasses] 

One of the main reasons businesses ask us about putting in a content strategy is because there’s a fear that we’re creating too much content. But then the first question becomes, “Okay, what function or department should the content team report to?” 

My answer? Well, it’s “yes.” 

Now, I’m not trying to be a smart aleck (well, okay, maybe I am just a bit). 

But seriously, my yes comes from years of helping implement content teams in dozens of businesses. My affirmative response indicates the most important thing isn’t to whom content reports; it’s that content teams report to some part of the business.  

When it reports into a function, such as brand, marketing, sales enablement, demand-gen, PR/comms, or even (yes, really, in one case) finance, the business acknowledges content marketing is a real thing with real responsibilities, power, and capabilities to affect business outcomes. 

When #ContentMarketing reports into a function, the business can acknowledge it has real power and the ability to affect outcomes says @Robert_Rose via @CMIContent. Click To Tweet

“What outcomes?” you might ask. 

Well, that depends on where content marketing reports.  

Now you have the real conundrum.  

You can’t figure out where content marketing and content strategy should report without knowing the expected business outcomes, and you can’t know the business outcomes until you know where they’re reporting.  

And that’s the real problem we’re trying to solve for.  

Go check out my column this week, where I talk about a real-world company we worked with, and the three key attributes that can help you get to a decision on what kind of operations process is going to make the best sense for you. 

Basically, the end lesson … and spoiler alert: Deciding is the important part of all of this – not the decision itself. Making a conscious choice as a business is the most important step in creating your content marketing strategy. Decisions are just accepting the consequences of a choice. And, so, for any desired consequence, you had better decide on all the things that will help create it.   

And that’s it. That’s five minutes of the news you need to lead in content marketing. I’m Robert Rose. And remember: It’s your story to tell. Tell it well. 

I’ll see you next week.