Clients ask me about e-mail marketing.

Not because they want to expand their use of it. Instead, they fear being labeled “spammers.”

They might be right.

In fact, a recent Marketing Sherpa case study says B-to-B e-mail is twice as likely to be falsely blocked as spam.

“We’ve known for three years now that the false positive rate for corporate America is roughly double the rate of consumer email. It’s doubly hard for a business-to-business marketer to conduct effective email campaigns. This study begins to point to reasons why, and gives some hope for the future,” notes MarketingSherpa President Anne Holland.

Right now, I can’t advise B-to-B clients to do much serious prospecting via e-mail. (I’m not saying it’s impossible, it’s just beyond the reach of most medium-sized businesses).

Instead, I’m advising most to view e-mail as a loyalty tool - and warning them that RSS feeds will someday provide the killer one-way media channel they really want.

RSS is on-demand. Delivery is largely assured. And (for now at least), it’s far more trustworthy than e-mail.

Of course, it’s not yet a popular channel. But it will be.

The key? Getting on someone’s RSS reader early - before it clogs with feeds.

Suddenly, we’re back in the Engagement Marketing arena. Because introducing someone to RSS is a powerful use of a blog.

Engage your customers, sell them on the idea of RSS, and make sure they know how it to get it.

Business blogs have many uses (engagement, SEO benefits, feedback, etc). Moving your best customers to a secure media channel (and weaning them off unsecure e-mail) can now be added to the list.

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