A Comeback for E-Mail

E-mail marketing is a tough business to be in. Even if you're legitimately marketing to customers you have a relationship with, such as e-mails from Amazon or Ticketmaster that those of us who buy from them receive, most people write the messages off as spam. But let's assume someone starts to get a handle on the spam — e-mail spam, that is. My personal opinion is it's moving to blog spam and other new tricks. Over at our JupiterResearch division, they think spam is on the decline, and that e-mail marketing will benefit.

E-mail marketing spending will grow from $885 million in 2005 to $1.1 billion by 2010, and the volume of spam messages per consumer will decrease by 13% a year during this same period.

In 2005, the report found, average active e-mail consumer was on the receiving end of 3,253 pieces of spam. By 2010, it will be a mere 1,640 pieces of spam. Better filtering by ISPs will be the reason for the decrease, not the usually futile anti-spam laws. The report also claims that by 2010, the cost of incorrectly blocked e-mail will drop to $92 million from a high of $107 million in 2006. So that means the filters are going to be removing more spam messages, with fewer legitimate messages as collateral damage. I can't wait.