We all get it. The economy stinks. The stock market keeps plunging with big numbers. The Federal Reserve keeps lowering interest rates. The real estate industry is all shook up. Gasoline prices are climbing and refusing to ever return below $2.50 per gallon. Stamp prices keep going up, threatening our direct-mail budgets.

No matter how gray the economy looks, we still have a business to run and market. Don’t take our word for it. Bill McCloskey of MediaPost reports good news for companies that rely on email marketing. “While a recession is certainly not good for anybody, it may have a beneficial effect on email marketing,” McCloskey says. He attributes email newsletter successes to their low cost, high return-on-investment, and being a proven marketing tool.

Lessons learned
Though this recession isn’t the first one in years, email newsletters have one advantage — time. They’ve been around long enough for marketers to get them right. People have learned what works and doesn’t work.

Internet marketing doesn’t require stamps, gasoline, groceries or anything that keeps denting the bill. The only thing technology does is use up energy. But green companies can control that. At least, online marketers use less paper and ink to get their message out.

We also know how to target our customers better using email marketing. When we reach the right customers, they’re more likely to listen.

Get ahead of the other guy
Though we cut the budget in many areas of a company during a recession, don’t cut the marketing budget. Let your competitors do that while you get ahead. How do you convince the CFO or money holder to let you keep your budget? Remind the person that staying in customers’ minds is what drives the company to stay on target.

Email newsletters also affect relationships with customers. MediaPost blogger Loren McDonald says, “Now is the time to reposition email as a strategic relationship-management channel.”

Cut marketing, customers forget you, and then you’ll have to do more cutting. Drew Neisser writes in iMediaConnection, “In truth, awareness can decline as fast as 50 percent a month when you go silent, and the cost of buying back that awareness will be horrendous.”

Neisser also advises talking to customers to find out how the downturn affects them, their businesses and their choices. What better to do this than through an effective email newsletter? You reach all of your customers at once while keeping your company’s name in their minds.

Sure, go ahead and individually contact some customers by phone or an email message. That always pays. Email newsletters let you talk to many folks at once, which you would not have time to do on an individual basis.

What about social networking and search marketing?
Businesses are discovering the power of using social networking sites and tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter. Yes, these work for business-to-business marketing — when done right. Making the most of social tools means investing time and research.

Unlike email newsletters, these tools are still in their infancy. We know they’re valuable and they work, but getting there takes longer as we don’t know the magic formulas yet.

McClosky also points out that mobile marketing and RSS haven’t proven themselves, banner advertising isn’t as direct as email newsletters, and search engine marketing is more expensive.

Social network sites don’t always come to the customer. People have to go to the sites for updates or turn on notifications to receive updates. But these updates won’t necessarily include your company, depending on your connection.

Add personality
Who says a business can’t have personality? Which do you prefer? Formal communications that give the impression the company behind the words is one with no feelings or no people. Or a company that interjects personality, showing a person in the company cares about you and your business.

We tire of the gloom and doom of the news that comes with an economic downturn. We welcome humor and laughter. Customers and soon-to-be customers will appreciate relief from their stressful jobs and problems that come with a lousy economy.

Don’t abandon other tools
Despite all this rah rah for email newsletters, other marketing tools still have value. Investors diversify because they know they’ll have greater success across the board rather than hedging their bets on one number. Customers prefer to receive messages in different ways: some by email, some through feed readers and some through direct mail.

Give customers the opportunity to state their preferences for receiving communication from you. Ask them in new sign up forms. For current customers, include a poll or ask them to update their options by providing a simple link to their account where the options live.

You not only don’t want to abandon other marketing tools, but also don’t abuse email marketing knowing what you now know. This means: Avoid the temptation to send more email blasts. McDonald explains, “This might deliver short-term results, but it can also hurt your brand and deliverability, increase costs to replace lost subscribers and potentially anger many otherwise happy customers.”

When we read the morning newspaper or turn on the evening news, we constantly hear about the lousy economy, the depressing stock market, the miserable real estate market. We know all this.

The gloomy economy doesn’t have that affect on online marketing efforts. In fact, email marketing is in great health —it’s cheap, fast, targeted and proven effective. Don’t get too “send” happy and abuse how much email you send to customers and prospects. Take advantage of all the research and expertise available on making email marketing work for your company.

The online marketing outlook is bright and sunny.