It's no secret that over the past decade digital messaging has firmly established itself as an effective conduit for business transactions and customer interaction. According to Target Marketing's Media Usage Forecast 2009, 69 percent of survey respondents plan to increase their email spending in 2009, despite the economic downturn. As the demand for digital marketing continues to grow, how can marketers and other members of the digital messaging ecosystem work together to ensure an enjoyable and seamless experience for today's savvy, connected consumer, while simultaneously providing customers with the utmost degree of control over their own information?

First, let's review the current digital messaging landscape. Most of us are wired into email, IM, and text messages, and many are using Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, and other channels to receive information and to communicate with others. These constantly changing communication behaviors present unique challenges and opportunities to marketing professionals.

But, to date, enterprises have lagged behind the changes in consumer behavior. Most companies are still looking at communication with their customers as a one-way street, and contacting them only through email. Rather than taking advantage of all the new channels that are available, the industry has been slow to adapt and confused about how to use new channels effectively.    

In a similar vein, most companies have been sluggish in adopting a customer-centric approach in their communications. Companies continue to inundate their customers with irrelevant email regardless of their stated preferences or behaviors. Given the current economic downturn, marketers should think twice about this strategy. Marketers who value relevancy as a top priority in email communications are best positioned to succeed and ultimately attract the purchasing power of today's shrinking pool of able buyers. After all, the consumer is already in the driver's seat and holds the key to how and when they receive messages. Failing to take relevancy into consideration when communicating with customers can quickly lead to email fatigue and diminish the value of your brand.

Above all, privacy remains a top concern for many consumers. In fact, a recent survey commissioned by VeriSign, revealed that consumers are 10 times more concerned about privacy than price when making online purchases. Unfortunately, marketers often assume that permission is permanent; this is certainly not the case. Permission is not—nor will it ever be—evergreen. At present, consumers often give permission to one brand in a company and subsequently receive communication from multiple business units across the company. As a result, marketers risk that customers will unsubscribe from all communications from the company.

So, how can marketers survive and thrive in this increasingly complex and competitive communications arena without alienating customers? The key is to understand not only how to collect consumer data, but more important, how to act on it. Marketers must learn to make use of consumer preferences about the type of content they want and when and how they want to receive it in order to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time and place. In short, relevancy is not just about content anymore. It's about time and place (channel), too.

Why aren't marketers doing this already? The short answer is that many companies haven't been diligent in implementing the technology solutions that can enable customized communication and delivery of the right content to a customer's channel of choice. Best practices are just talk unless you're actually able to act on them. Marketers who harness the power of technology are ultimately best positioned to keep pace with the customer's changing preferences with respect to content, channel, and timing. Testing the effectiveness of your outreach efforts, measuring and interpreting results, gathering input from customers, and trying new strategies when necessary are all critical parts of the process. Is it really worth the investment of time, money, and effort?  The answer to that question depends on how much you value your customers and their allegiance to your brand versus a competitors.'

Moving into the future of digital messaging will require evolving our marketing communications from a one-way to a two-way street—or from monologue to dialogue, if you prefer. Going forward, wise marketers will stop looking at email lists, SMS lists, IM lists, etc., as distinct silos in favor of a more holistic approach that views all of these communications channels as part of the total interaction with the customer. They will also become more attuned to consumer's responses and behaviors in order to modify communications and increase relevancy as they go along. In doing so, marketers will be able to deliver and regulate communications across all channels while firmly establishing brand-loyal relationships with their customers.

About the author: Dave Lewis is the CMO of Message Systems. Contact him at dave.lewis@messagesystems.com