In the age of social media and instant messaging, it’s easy to think that email is a relic from what the internet once was. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth—email is very much alive and well, and it’s still an incredibly effective marketing tool. In fact, email has a number of advantages over other marketing channels, including higher conversion rates, lower costs, and greater reach.
So, why is email so effective? First, let’s take a look at some numbers. According to a recent study by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing has an average ROI of 122%, which means for every £1 spent on email marketing, businesses can expect to see a return of £1.22. That’s more than four times higher than the ROI of any other digital channel, including social media, display advertising, and paid search.
In addition to its high ROI, email is also one of the most cost-effective marketing channels available. It costs very little to send an email campaign, especially when compared to other channels like direct mail or paid advertising. And because email reaches such a large audience—there are more than 3 billion email users worldwide—it can be an extremely effective way to reach your target market.
Finally, email is a great tool for building relationships with your customers. With email, you can create targeted campaigns that speak directly to your customers’ needs and interests. You can also use email to stay top-of-mind with your customers by sending them timely updates about your products or services. By nurturing your relationships with your customers through email, you can create loyalty and build long-term relationships that will benefit your business for years to come.
How to make it email marketing work for your business
While it may be true that the way we use email has changed over the years, the basic premise is still the same: to send a message to a group of people. The only difference is that now there are more ways than ever to make sure that message is targeted, relevant, and engaging. So, if you’re not already using email marketing to promote your business, now is the time to start! Here’s some of our tips on how to get the best out of your email marketing:
1) Define Your Target Audience
The first step in any successful marketing campaign is to identify your target audience. Who are you trying to reach with your message? Once you’ve answered that question, you can start to segment your email list so that you can send more targeted messages. This will not only help improve your open and click-through rates (how many people click the links in your emails) but also ensure that your recipients are actually interested in what you have to say. If you don’t already have an email list, now is the time to start building one. However, it can be a lengthy process and segmenting your email list means creating tags for each individual which you may not have time for. Outsourcing this to an expert means you won’t have any mishaps happening with your audience list.
2) Create Compelling Content
Just like any other form of marketing, the key to success with email marketing is creating compelling content. Your messages should be well-written and offer value to your recipients. They should also be visually engaging, with images, infographics, and videos where appropriate. And if you want people to actually read your emails, make sure they’re not too long! No one wants to scroll through pages and pages of text. Keep it short and sweet.
3) Leverage Email Automation
With email automation, you can send messages triggered by certain actions or events. For example, you can set up an automated welcome email for new subscribers or a ‘thank you’ message for customers who make a purchase on your website. Automated messages are an excellent way to stay in touch with your audience without having to put in too much effort. Plus, they help nurture leads and keep customers engaged with your brand. This can be tricky to set up if you’ve never done anything like this before so it might be wise to consult some experts to help you do this.
4) Analyse Your Results
Last but not least, don’t forget to analyse your results so that you can continually improve your email marketing campaigns. Check things like open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribe rates, and complaint rates. This will give you a good idea of what’s working and what isn’t so that you can make tweaks where necessary. Also, be sure to segment your list so that you can test different subject lines, content formats, etc., to see what works best for each group.
Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing tools out there. If it’s done right it could make a big impact on your business but often small businesses just don’t have the time and resource to execute it properly. Consulting an expert digital marketing agency can help you massively! SumFactors are a team of digital marketing experts with over 30 years of experience creating email marketing & newsletters. If you’re overwhelmed by the alien world of digital marketing and want help with email marketing then get in touch with SumFactors for a chat.