Email marketing is one of the most powerful mediums for reaching consumers and building lasting relationships with them. Despite the opening statement, email marketing is a tactic that many businesses overlook. Here are some of the things we hear from organizations we speak with about email marketing:
- I don’t have the time
- I don’t have the budget
- It’s not a big part of my business’s financial model
- It’s too complicated
- I don’t have a list of subscribers
Whatever the challenges may be, we’re here to tell you that email marketing is definitely worth your time.
Debates around whether or not email marketing is dead has been somewhat commonplace among marketers in recent years. Some argue that the presence of social media and social messaging apps is quickly replacing our use of email. Others argue that our inboxes are so inundated with spam and newsletters that consumers ignore what gets sent to them. A quick look at the numbers tells us that email marketing is not only very much alive, but it’s also a practice that businesses should be investing time and resources in. Here are a few quick stats from independent marketing research firms worth digesting:
- In 2019 over half of the world’s population uses email (source: The Radacati Group)
- 42% of Americans admit to checking email in the bathroom, and 50% do so while in bed (source: 99Firms)
- Despite the rise of social messaging apps, 78% of teenagers use email (source: DMR)
- For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $32 (source: DMA, 2018)
If the numbers aren’t convincing enough for you, here are our five reasons why email marketing is worth your time:
Email Is Personal
Personalization has been the trend in marketing for some time now as we continue forward in an age of big data. Ads are targeted and can sometimes feel personal, but they’re not. However, when you consider two factors about email marketing the opportunity for a deeper level of personalization becomes clear. First, unlike ads or other forms of marketing, email is something that users opt-in to (when done legitimately). In other words, they are willingly expressing an interest in what you potentially have to offer. That’s powerful! Secondly, if you’re tactical with list segmentation, you can organize your list in a variety of ways based on known data points. For example, a book store can collect genre preferences from its subscribers and then push emails about new arrivals in those genres specifically to subscribers with the expressed interest.
It’s Affordable
Unlike online ads, which require a budget commitment in order to purchase media, email marketing is very inexpensive. Top quality email service providers like MailChimp, Campaign Monitor and HubSpot offer free versions of their software. With a small investment (we’re talking $50 – $200 per month) in one of those services you’ll gain access to some serious features.
It Provides Valuable Insights
Harping back to the above points about segmentation, we come to find that doing email marketing properly can unveil valuable information about your customers. If you add preferences to your email signup form, then you have two of the most powerful things any marketer could ask for: 1. active consent to receive marketing communications from your customers and 2. at least one useful data point about your customer’s interests.
It’s An Effective Way To Create Repeat Customers
There are a ton of reasons why repeat customers are something your business should strive for, but for now let’s just focus on one stat that tells that story best: On average, repeat customers spend 300% more than new customers (source: RJMetrics). Email marketing is your best tool to turn new customers into repeat customers. Once someone purchases your product or service, you have the opportunity to reach their inbox and start converting them into repeat customer.
It Contributes To Other Marketing Tactics
Emails are a valuable piece of marketing information. They can be used to build look-a-like audiences for ad sets, which is one of the best ways to build targeted ad audiences. You can also assess how your subscribers interact with your email content and utilize that information to identify ways of improving your business’s product or service offerings.
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Email marketing is one of the core digital marketing services we provide for clients regularly. Feeling challenged or lost by what you read above? We can help! Get in touch and we’ll talk you through it.
